Mother’s Day Classic and Sport Australia partner to launch free community program ‘MDC Move’

Australia’s largest fun run and walk for breast cancer research - the Mother’s Day Classic – held annually on Mother’s Day in up to 100 locations across Australia – is celebrating its 25th anniversary on Sunday 8th May 2022 and this year, the Mother’s Day Classic and Sport Australia are partnering to launch a free community program called ‘MDC Move’.

Recognising the difficulties often encountered to find the time and motivation to get moving – this free program is available to all Australians to help shake things up and make you a ‘Mover’.

The Move with MDC Program will be seamlessly integrated into the broader Mother’s Day Classic communications journey creating fun and engaging content to:

• support participants to be more physically active;

• increase participants’ motivation, opportunity and capability to be active; and

• encourage participants to be more active in the future.

This new ‘Move with MDC’ campaign focuses on Australian women and girls, who encounter barriers consistently identified across extensive research, including:

• lack of motivation, enjoyment or interest in sport/physical activity;

• lack of perceived ability and confidence;

• cost, poor health or injury

• lack of time or access to opportunities to be active.

The Mother’s Day Classic, founded by Women in Super, has seen participation from almost 1.5 million Australians over the past 24 years with this year’s event aiming to unite tens of thousands of people to celebrate and honour those affected by breast cancer and raise vital funds for research. There will be up to 70 event locations nationwide where supporters can walk, run or jog for the cause on Mother’s Day.

Zara Lawless, Mother’s Day Classic Chief Executive advises “The MDC community should be very proud of this important milestone which marks 25 years of impact.

“The MDC has grown quite literally from a walk in the park to an iconic event in the Australian calendar. Since it all began in 1998, the Mother’s Day Classic Foundation has donated nearly $40 million to the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) to fund life-saving breast cancer research.”

Lawless adds “The Mother’s Day Classic Foundation is thrilled to be partnering with Sport Australia to run a free, six-week communications campaign focused on increasing the physical activity of Australian women and girls preparing for the iconic Mother’s Day Classic.”

After two challenging years, the Mother’s Day Classic is ready to deliver a fun, safe and inspiring event experience. To keep participants and volunteers safe, MDC is implementing COVIDSafe measures and will be guided by the vaccination requirements and health and safety guidelines as determined by each state’s government authority.

This year, in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth, Adelaide, Gold Coast, Darwin, Hobart, Geelong and Western Sydney participants will experience the true magic of traditional MDC events. There will be the buzz of the event village, live entertainment, music, and food stalls to enjoy throughout the morning.

If you prefer staying local, there is an option to walk or run at one of the many local events that will be held across Australia on Mother’s Day.

Or, if you can’t join your community on Mother’s Day, you can personalise an event day to create your very own MDC experience by taking part on a different day or time.

Participants who register in any of the major cities or who choose to personalise their own day and time will all receive a race pack that includes a 25th anniversary headscarf, race bib and tribute card, plus a commemorative medallion. There will be an online fundraising dashboard and fitness tracker for participants to use, and those who register before 7th March will receive personalised MDC bibs to wear on event day.

Participants staying local will receive a commemorative medallion at the finish line, have access to downloadable race bibs and tribute cards, as well as access to the online fundraising dashboard and fitness tracker.

Proceeds go to the National Breast Cancer Foundation for breast cancer research to improve outcomes for those affected by breast cancer. The Mother’s Day Classic Foundation supports the NBCF’s goal of zero deaths from breast cancer by 2030. There is still so much work that needs to be done to ensure that women can live free of breast cancer in the future.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia and sadly, eight Australians die from it every single day. 55 Australians are diagnosed with breast cancer each day.  In the 24-year history of the Mother’s Day Classic, almost $40 million has been donated to fund game-changing breast cancer research.

Get active for breast cancer research and register online for the 2022 Mother’s Day Classic at mothersdayclassic.com.au.  

Image top: Mother’s Day Classic bursts into action; Image above: Mother's Day Classic celebrations