Thousands turn out for Perth Running Festival to raise funds for Telethon

More than 14,000 people who laced up their joggers and turned out to Perth Running Festival on Sunday have helped to raise $200,000 in vital funds for the children’s charity Telethon.

Among those who tackled the longest 42.2kms course was Katherine Johanson, who said it was the thought of the challenges her seven-year-old daughter, Leila Unthaya-Graves, will face in the future that spurred her on to complete her first-ever marathon.

In January, Leila was diagnosed with a rare neurogenerative condition — Autosomal Recessive Spastic Ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay — which could rob her of the ability to walk or run as she gets older.

Not only did Ms Johanson finish the event while raising more than $5000, she did it while pushing through the pain of stress fractures brought on by over-training.

Always a keen runner, she started increasing her distance training around the time Leila was first taken to Perth Children’s Hospital.

“She’s a full-of-beans little seven-year-old, so it’s hard to imagine that one day that’s not going to be the case,” she said. “I think it spurs you on as a parent when you feel like something could be taken away from your child.”

“It’s such a beautiful run ... it’s a really nice event to do and I’ll definitely be back next year for it.”

The festival gave runners the option of running three other distances besides the marathon, including 4km, 10km and the 21.1km half-marathon, alongside the picturesque Swan River in Burswood Park while raising funds for sick, disadvantaged and vulnerable children.

Runners who raised more than $750 for Telethon were treated to a VIP race day experience including recovery massage and ice baths.

One of this year’s little Telethon stars, Nate Fearnall, completed the 4km course with the aid of a race runner tricycle.

The eight-year-old rated the experience of crossing the finish line at Optus Stadium as “good”.

“I was doing pretty good, my mum said,” he said. “And after that, I hopped into a really cold bath — it was freezing.”

His dad, Dean Fearnall, who raised around $1000, said the whole family — including Nate’s mum Kellie, his brother and two sisters — also ran the 4km course.

The biggest fundraiser for the event was Georgia Hurst, who raised $18,625 while also running her first marathon.

The photographer, midwife and mother took part this year to raise money and awareness in honour of her brother Sam, who was diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer at just 16.

Before the event, she said that having seen first-hand what her brother experienced had made her feel even more grateful for her healthy body and inspired her to use it to make a positive impact.

Kenya’s Paul Eyanae cruised to a stunning victory in the marathon, crossing the line almost seven minutes ahead of his nearest rival with a time of 2hrs 16min 43sec.

Last year’s winner Samuel Ekutan (2:23:37) was next, followed by WA’s Tim Hewitt (2:28:05). Fridah Too took out the women’s marathon in 2hrs 42min 13sec.

WA running power couple Matt Ramsden and Lauren Hyde-Cooling fell narrowly short of their goal of winning both the men’s and women’s half-marathon categories.

Ramsden defended his crown in a time of 1hr 5min 25sec, while Hyde-Cooling finished fourth in the women’s, behind winner Kate Barker (01:18:32).

Dan Canala (32:10) took out the Streamer 10km in a thrilling finish against Luke Bate (32:15), while Max Shervington was first past the post in the Burswood Park 4km dash.

This year’s Telethon is on October 19 and 20 at RAC Arena.