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April McEachern. Photo supplied: April McEachern
April McEachern has rolled through a busy October, skating 102 kilometres around Bowen and surpassing her $500 fundraising goal to support mental health research.
Taking part in the Black Dog Institute’s One Foot Forward challenge, April fitted skating around work and everyday commitments, clocking up kilometres at Queens Beach while encouraging people to start conversations about mental health.
She raised $528 that will be divvied out by the institute among various mental health services, more than doubling last year’s total of $209.
Reaching the finish brought a sense of accomplishment after a month that required some careful juggling between her work and social life balance.
“I did push it for time between work and life and everything in between,” April said.
But when asked whether the effort had been worth it, she had no hesitation.
“Always, I’ll do it again next year too,” April said.
Even the weather made her work for those final kilometres, with rain setting in just two days before the challenge ended. April watched for a break and headed out when she could.
“I literally had to pick a window because there's no rain right now, so I shot out the door,” April said.
Her regular route at Queens Beach covered roughly 4.2 kilometres a lap, taking her slightly beyond the original 100-kilometre target.
“I would have probably kept going had I had more time,” she said.
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