GETTING started early to avoid the day’s heat, Ben Welch ran through Swan Hill on Wednesday morning for his third day on the road from Mildura to Echuca.
Mr Welch had run over 200km from Mildura and left Tooleybuc by 3am to reach Swan Hill before 10am, with the goal of reaching Lake Charm by the end of the day.
A motorist reached out of his car with a cash donation and called words of support as Mr Welch ran past his car stopped at the McCallum Street and Campbell Street intersection.
Headspace Swan Hill manager Hayley Neuschafer and her daughters Daneaka and Asha ran alongside Mr Welch and his support crew through the town as people stopped to watch.
“It was inspiring running beside him, having people waving and tooting down the street and coming out of the shops as we went by – it was uplifting to see so much support for his mission,” she said.
“I was only going to run a kilometre or two with him, but my daughters wanted to keep going so I thought why not, and we went for 10km.”
“The road is hot, and Tuesday was the hardest day of my life, but this is all part of the challenge” he said in a brief lunch stop at headspace Swan Hill.
“I’m a bit sore, so I’m looking forward to getting to Lake Charm tonight.
“However it ends, it will end with me at Victoria Park in Echuca at 4.44pm on Friday.”
Along with his large posse helping him through every day, Mr Welch said the towns he ran through were supportive, and his social media updates showed high-fives and applause from crowds along the road.
“I have an unbelievable crew with me and there’s a lot of people who have fundraised alongside me, which is what it’s all about – coming together to support each other,” he said.
“The majority of people we’ve gone past have been really welcoming, which is good because we are on the highway, but we’ve received a lot of support.
“The people have helped us out as much as we are hoping to help them out.”
At the time of writing, Mr Welch was 7km away from Gunbower, his last stopover before the final 44km leg to Echuca today.
He had raised $350,000 of his $444,444 goal that will be split evenly between headspace Mildura, Swan Hill and Echuca to provide critical mental health services to the Mallee community.
