Bay strides for stroke survivors

A sea of colour will sweep over Melbourne’s picturesque bay beaches this Saturday as hundreds don their brightest fitness wear for a good cause.

For a third year in a row, the Training With Mates team will run or walk from Beaumaris, Mordialloc and Hampton to raise money and awareness for Stroke Foundation as part of Stride4Stroke.

It's a cause close to event organiser Dan Maitland’s heart. His sister Bec, a former paramedic, had a stroke in 2016. She was 28 years old.

“It was incredibly life changing for all of us. To see her fighting for her life and her whole life flipped upside down- career, relationship, everything- was massive.”

With more than $14,000 already raised, the Training With Mates team is topping the Stride4Stroke national leader board for most funds raised by a group, but Dan says education is just as important.

“The biggest reason why we wanted to do this was to support Bec and spread awareness by showing others how stroke can be prevented and how to recognise a stroke. We want people to know to get their blood pressure checked and learn the F.A.S.T acronym.”

“ We also want to show other survivors that there is support out there for them how we can create better empathy towards people who have had a stroke.” Dan said.

Stroke Foundation Executive Director Marketing, John De Rango, says the Training With Mates team is setting a great example to all Australians. He’s urging others to follow in Dan’s footsteps by signing up to Stride4Stroke and making their moves count this November.

“Eighty per cent of strokes are preventable and taking steps to adopt a healthy lifestyle can reduce your risk. This includes exercising regularly, eating a healthy well-balanced diet, quitting smoking, and reducing intake of alcohol.” Mr De Rango said.

“Stride4Stroke is a great starting point to make the changes that can reduce your risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes which are all modifiable risk factors of stroke.”

Stride4Stroke runs the entire month of November. More information can be found here.

For more information on the Training With Mates Stride4Stroke Fun Run click here.