Run for a cure

By Tania Martin
LYNDALL Parsons is doing it again. She is lighting a flame for cancer research.
The Mt Evelyn woman is helping to organise the 2008 Yarra Ranges Relay for Life event and is urging residents to get behind this important cause.
She is inviting residents to attend a relay information evening on Thursday 30 April at the Mt Evelyn RSL, Birmingham Road.
After heading a successful relay last year, Ms Parsons has again taken on the challenge.
In November 2007, the event was held for the first time in Mt Evelyn with more than 500 people participating and raising more than $52,000 for cancer research.
Ms Parsons said she hopes that the relay would be even bigger and better this year.
For years the event was held in Healesville but Ms Parson said now that it has been relocated to Mt Evelyn, more people were able to attend.
“It just makes the relay more accessible to people across the shire,” she said.
Ms Parsons first got involved in the Yarra Ranges relay event four years ago after her mother died from breast cancer.
“I was introduced to the relay during mum’s battle with cancer after she went to a relay in Geelong and came home with a sense of strength and peace,” she said.
“Mum told us she wanted to have a team there (at the relay) the following year but she passed away three weeks before the event but we went along in her honour.”
The relay has now become a yearly trek for Ms Parsons as she helps support others who are also facing cancer.
The 2008 relay event will be held on Saturday 8 November and runs until 10am on Sunday 9 November.
During the event, teams of 10 or more will take turns keeping a baton moving overnight around the Morrison Reserve Athletics Track, Old Hereford Road, Mt Evelyn.
All cash raised from the relay will go towards cancer research, education programs and support services across Victoria.
But for Ms Parsons the relay is about more than just raising cash for Cancer Council Victoria.
She says it is about providing support for people with cancer or families who have been through similar ordeals.
“It (the relay) provides an opportunity for all Yarra Ranges residents to remember loved ones lost, honour local people currently receiving cancer treatment and celebrate at this unique event,” she said. “It makes you feel like you aren’t alone.”
People interested in joining this year’s event can attend the information night on Thursday or call Ms Parsons on 0433 902 552.