Deniliquin's Bronwyn Atkinson powered through The Bloody Long Walk fundraiser in Melbourne on Sunday, walking an equivalent of 46,200 steps with friends to support mitochondrial disease.
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The Bloody Long Walk is a 35km fundraising walk held in nine different locations, and designed to help find desperately needed cures for people with mitochondrial disease.
Mitochondrial disease is a debilitating genetic disorder that robs the body’s cells of energy, causing multiple organ dysfunction or failure and potentially death. It can affect anyone at any age.
Mrs Atkinson was one of 20 in the group 'Giddy Up' which included people from Deniliquin, Berrigan and Tocumwal as well as friends from Queensland, Victoria and other parts of NSW.
The group pledged to raise $1400 at the start of their fundraising journey, and raised more than five times that goal by Wednesday. They are up to $7206, with donations still coming in.
"I made an open group called 'Giddy Up' that people could join, so we could work together to get our donations in," Mrs Atkinson said.
"Everyone put in what they could and then the donations just kept coming.
"When we passed $1400, we all thought 'wow, that's fantastic' and now we have reached more than $7000 which is an incredible effort."
Mrs Atkinson learned about the Bloody Long Walk and the Mito Foundation when researching how she could increase her own exercise routine.
decided she would give the fundraiser a go as a way to do her part and work towards her fitness goals, encouraging others to join along the way.
She then spent three months training for the walk and says she is glad she went prepared.
"You really do need to train because your feet need to carry you all of that way," she said.
"We did a lot of foot preparations, making sure we didn't get blisters and that we could make the distance.
"I think I was prepared. If you can walk 15km, you can psych yourself into 35 km but the last 5km was the hardest.
"I walked with a couple of girls I went to school with that I hadn't seen in ages so we just walked and talked."
The walk really showcased Melbourne according to Mrs Atkinson, who said there were spectacular views between Deep Rock Road to the Yarra Bend Park and the beaches of St Kilda.
"It actually took me seven hours, but some people did it in about six hours," she said.
"It was a bloody long way but, but I would do it again just to walk the Yarra; it was fantastic.
"It has also been an eye opener about mito disease; I had no idea about it.
"It is one of those diseases not many people know about. By posting on Facebook people might not donate, but they become aware of what the foundation is and you start discussions
"I think more people will do it next year because they will want to be a part of raising money for a good cause."