General News
1 May, 2023
Run Against Violence co-founder to visit Atherton
ONE of the founders of the Australian-wide Run Against Violence event, Kirrily Dear, will be travel-ling to the Tablelands for a visit and to participate in a park run on Saturday, 13 May with locals who have participated in the run for the past few years.
Run Against Violence is a 1300km nationwide virtual run that raises awareness for family violence, teams across Australia sign up for the run and clock up the kilometres over 19 days.
It was established by Brad Smithers and Kirrily in 2017 after Kirrily did a solo run from Broken Hill to Sydney in 19 days.
The run brought together people from throughout regional New South Wales to raise awareness about family violence and its impact on the community.
Tableland local Jeanette Gegg has participated in Run Against Violence numerous times and is a prominent advocate against family violence in the community.
She is thrilled to have Kirrily visit the Tablelands this year ahead of this year’s Run Against Violence set to begin on 30 August.
“For me I think it is pretty special that she is coming up – last year I spoke to her and she said, ‘I’ll come up’ and now she is which I never thought would actually happen,” she said.
“It is surreal and for me it is very special and I think for all my team members who have been with me for nearly five years.
“It is also a nice promotion for getting out why we do Run Against Violence.”
Kirrily is excited to visit the Tablelands and participate in a park run and is encouraging people to come along for a run or walk and learn more about Run Against Violence.
“I am really looking forward to the park run and hopefully a nice breakfast afterwards,” she said.
“I hope to have a lot of people turn out to support what we are doing and find out more about the event, meet Jeanette and the team.
“Come and meet me, meet the team, get involved – park run is a lot of fun for everyone involved.”
Kirrily is also planning to meet with local councillors to discuss Run Against Violence. Park run begins at 7am at Platypus Park in Atherton
