Running is not Mel Rippon’s natural state. As a water polo player she likens herself to more like an elephant on land.
Which is why she runs the Mother’s Day Classic each year in a team of fellow players and friends called the ‘Pink Elephants’.
And this year, the Pink Elephants are coming to Toowoomba, to see our streets turn into a sea of pink for the Mother’s Day Classic on Sunday 8 May, 7am at Lake Annand.
Now in her fourth year as ambassador, Mel says the Classic isn’t about how fast you go.
“You can walk, you can run, every year I see people pushing prams,” she says. “It’s become a family event, and I’m really looking forward to coming to Toowoomba and being part of it.”
every day it’s someone’s mother, sister, daughter and friend.
In the water Mel has reached heights not experienced by many – winning a medal at the Olympics, a Commonwealth championship and captaining the Australian Water Polo team. Outside of the water, Mel’s life has been touched by a disease that unfortunately has touched every one of us in some way. She lost her both her Mum and her Grandma to breast cancer.
“Mum was diagnosed when I was 11 and was sick for 10 years before she passed,” she says. “At the time she was the only person many people knew with breast cancer. Now it’s all the time, every day it’s someone’s mother, sister, daughter and friend.
“The more research that’s done the closer we get to a the cure. It’s out there, and that’s why awareness and research is so important.”
In Australia one in eight women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. On average, seven women die from breast cancer in this country every day.
The Mother’s Day Classic is Australia’s largest breast cancer research fundraiser.
Since starting in 1998 a total of $27.4 million has been raised, and five-year survival rates for women diagnosed have been increasing. Mel says continued awareness and early intervention is key to fighting breast cancer.
“It’s really about getting to know yourself and your own body,” she says. “Don’t be afraid to ask questions, don’t be afraid to go to the doctor to get checked. Go as soon as you think something is wrong.”
If you’d like to join the Mother’s Day Classic registrations are open now at http://www.mothersdayclassic.com.au/register/
