Running against family violence
The Caboose Girls are ready to run the 1300kms over the 19-day virtual event.
A group of passionate Newcastle runners is participating in this year’s Run Against Violence Virtual Team Challenge, helping to raise awareness, funds and start conversations around family violence.
A group of passionate Newcastle runners is participating in this year’s Run Against Violence Virtual Team Challenge, helping to raise awareness, funds and start conversations around family violence.
The Caboose Girls.
Run Against Violence (RAV) aims to end the silence of family violence by starting healthy conversations.
This year is the fourth annual RAV Virtual Team Challenge. Teams of up to 20 people will walk or run 1300km over 19 days in their local area.
The women-only running group the Night Striders are based in the Newcastle and Hunter area and participate in the RAV team challenge every year.
Karen McLaughlin, a midwife at the John Hunter Hospital and a midwife academic at the University of Newcastle, has been a Night Strider for around five years.
“Unfortunately, some women don’t feel safe to run by themselves, particularly in the evenings, which is how the Night Striders started,” McLaughlin said.
“It’s great to be able to run as a group as there is always safety in numbers. Every year we participate in Run Against Violence and get quite a few teams together to raise lots of money for such a good cause.”
McLaughlin said there were around 1000 Night Striders across the Hunter region. Several groups of 20 runners will participate in the team challenge.
McLaughlin’s group is called the Caboose Girls, and starting from August 30, each team member will contribute 4km a day to make up the team goal of 1300km over the 19-day event.
“Our team is called the Caboose Girls because we are always the slow ones at the back,” she laughed.
“We run pretty slowly at around talking pace so it’s nothing too serious, and if someone needs to walk, then we will walk. We always go back and pick up the stragglers at the end so no one feels like they are on their own.
“We are always keen to advocate for any kind of women’s rights movement or charity so it was important for us to participate in running against family violence. It’s not only a good way to be accountable for exercise and running but it’s also raising awareness about a significant issue.
“Every one of us has been affected in some way when it comes to violence, whether it be a friend, family member or ourselves, so it’s a pretty important thing that we are doing.”
In 2020, 3000 participants contributed to the RAV Virtual Team Challenge fundraising total of $120,000. This year’s goal is set even higher: 5000 runners to raise $180,000.
RAV founder Kirrily Dear established the charity in 2015 and started the Virtual Team Challenge in 2017, which was in conjunction with her own solo run from Broken Hill to Sydney, held over 19 days.
Her 1300km solo run brought people together from across regional NSW, which started the nationwide movement.
“Our job is to engage the broader community in conversations about family violence to reduce the stigma and the isolation of people who have lived with domestic and family violence,” Dear said.
“When that stigma is removed, people then share their story, reach out for help.
“We deliver awareness campaigns and community activities in order to create the platform for these conversations around family violence.”
Dear said the virtual run equated to 1.7M steps. This is the number of Australians estimated to have experienced physical abuse before the age of 15.
Team members upload their distances to an online tracker, which helps keep them in the competition while also tracking their progress across the virtual map from Broken Hill to Sydney.
Registrations for the RAV Virtual Team Challenge are open and can be found on the RAV website.
The challenge will begin on Monday, August 30 and will finish on Friday, September 17.
Hayley McMahon