THE TRAGEDY
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 7TH 2009 WAS AN EXTREME DAY OF BLISTERING HEAT AND GAIL FORCE WINDS.
IT BECAME AUSTRALIA'S WORST EVER NATURAL DISASTER! IT IS NOW KNOW AS BLACK SATURDAY!

  • 173 people lost their lives, thousands of people lost their loved ones.
  • Over 2000 Houses were destroyed, thousands of hectares chard.
  • Communities were at the brink and challenged like never before.

THE PEOPLE OF AUSTRALIA RESPONDED AND GAVE LIKE NEVER BEFORE!

THE IDEA
The Black Saturday Run (One Year On) was the idea of three friends from Melbourne, Martin Edwards, Eric Louw and Jarrod Kanizay.
They are mates through running, and are all accomplished marathon runners. Over a long (30km) run one Sunday in April 2009, they talked about the tragedy of Black Saturday, and developed the idea to run around Melbourne’s Port Philip Bay to raise money for the cause. Their busy schedules however got in the way, and they shelved the idea. On Sunday the 8th November 2009, the three friends travelled to Marysville, and took part in the Marysville Marathon. It was a very hot November day, hitting 35 degrees. There was no shade, as the burned trees had largely failed to create any regrowth, and mostly resembled telephone poles. This event gave them more insight into the impact of the fire, and the ongoing struggles that the fire effected communities are experiencing. The boys (Martin, Eric, and Jarrod), again, over a long Sunday run, nutted out together the Black Saturday Run idea.
AROUND THE BAY IN A DAY (Melbourne’s Premier Biking event), inspired them to think of the challenge. Cyclists do it in one day! The boys want to do it in 2 days.

THE RUN
Three Runners, going the entire distance (220km) side by side.

  • Starting on Saturday the 6th February 2010 at 5am (dawn) from Federation Square in Melbourne CBD.
    The first day takes them 120kms to Queenscliff, 35km North East of Geelong.
    They endeavour to make it there in time to catch the 7pm ferry to Sorrento.
  • Overnight, the 3 friends, and their 3 support crew will stay in Sorrento, only to continue the journey at 5am on Sunday 7th February on to Melbourne.
This is the longest that the boys have ever run over a 2 day period, and is the first (known) time that any person has run around Port Philip Bay

THE CAUSE

  • The money raised by the Black Saturday Run appeal will go to the Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation and 100% of donations will be distributed to charities in the bushfire-affected local communities.
  • Please click here to donate online now.

THE AIM

  • For The Australian Community to Remember the Tragedy (ONE YEAR ON).
  • To Raise Money and to show Support the Communities who still need our assistance.
  • To Educate all Australians about the danger of Bush Fires and our need TO WORK TOGETHER AS ONE!