FROM shaving precious locks to keeping the crowd cool with blasts of ice-cold water, hundreds of volunteers pitched in at the showground on Saturday as Moree did its bit in the fight against cancer.
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Among the more gutsy efforts at the Relay for Life was Ron Clissold’s four-and-a-half-hour marathon in which the 69-year-old clocked 225 laps of the oval.
But despite his achievement, Ron was disappointed he had to call it a day at 6.30pm.
Ron got a pacemaker in 2005 after running the Gold Coast marathon and admits he might have lost a bit of form after a recent holiday to Broome, but the former long distance runner attributed his early finish Saturday to the blistering pace of his daughter. Lee, a nurse, accompanied him for the first 100 laps.
“That was the undoing of me!” he said. “Lee set a solid speed... I had to pull up because of blisters on both feet.”
“I did four kilometres more last year, but I couldn’t keep going this year. I wanted to do 100km, but the damage would have been too much.”
Ron’s other children, Tanya and Wayne, also turned out to support their father’s effort.
Tanya is a hairdresser and Wayne manages North West Ginning, which donated $2 dollars for every lap Ron did. T&FS Woods also contributed $200.
Ron first got a taste for running in 1969 while in the Army. But it wasn’t until his daughter gifted him a notebook that he started keeping count of the kilometres he clocks.
“66,900km since 1982,” he said. “Not counting walking or riding of course.”
Apart from his two-year national service Ron has lived in Moree his whole life, with a 16-year career at Pioneer Construction followed by 26 years driving a taxi. During that time he has been heavily involved with sporting clubs, but Ron reckons one of the big takeaways he got from his effort at the Relay for Life, aside from the blisters, was a chance to meet new people.
It was also a way to contribute to fighting a disease which has affected him, like so many others in our community, directly.
Ron lost both his best mate and brother-in-law to cancer, and many other of his loved ones have been affected by the disease, including a cousin who has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
“I think it’s very important that people help support cancer and heart research. Anything we can do to chip in and help is a good thing.”
Ron noted the big efforts of many on the day, specifically the Moree police service, which had two or three officers doing laps throughout the event.
