After a gruelling month of running and riding, Jarrad Forlonge has completed the intense Challenge27 Challenge, not only hitting his $2,700 fundraising goal but blowing past it.
Forlonge successfully raised $3,400 for motor neurone disease (MND) research, an achievement he called a great relief after the physically and mentally demanding effort. “All done, thank God,” Forlonge said, clearly satisfied with the outcome.
“I ended up raising $3,400, or just shy of that. I was pretty happy with that. Not only got the goal but exceeded it a little bit, so pretty stoked in general with how it all panned out overall.”
The Challenge27 requires participants to complete a specific distance each day for a month, with Forlonge estimating he ran or rode an extra 12 kilometres by the end, exceeding the target in his commitment to the cause.
Forlonge undertook the challenge with a deeply personal motivation this year. “There was a lot of emotion involved in the reason why I did this year… it was definitely a lot more meaningful to do it this year,” he explained. He deliberately chose the physically strenuous challenge to reflect on the struggles of those affected by MND.
“I wanted to challenge myself physically and certainly mentally,” Forlonge stated. “Obviously, everyone who has MND or has had MND in their family or friends… It’s not a walk in the park, so I think for me that was the point behind it: to make it a challenge, and to be uncomfortable and to sort of not enjoy it by the end of it.”
He admitted that the mental toll was even harder than the physical strain of running and riding roughly 27 kilometres daily while juggling work and life.
“Honestly, I think it was harder mentally than it was physically… Certainly, I think the mental aspect was harder, but physically it wasn’t a walk in the park, that’s for sure,” he said.
Forlonge credits a last-minute rush of donations for pushing him over his target. “We raised a fair bit of money but weren’t going to see our goal, but the last week it came in pretty hot and heavy,” he said. “I think it’s more a case of people didn’t really believe that I was going to make it to the end of the month, so once I got there, people were a bit more inclined to donate a little bit.”
Forlonge marked his final run on Saturday, coinciding with the AFL grand final, which he celebrated with family and friends. After the intense effort, he plans to take an extended break from running.
“I finished on Saturday… I chose to celebrate with a few drinks and with mates and family and everything like that, watched the footy and didn’t take much rocking on Saturday night after all was said and done, that’s for sure,” he laughed.
“Just a rest and recover a little bit and won’t be doing much probably for the next week or two either.”
Looking ahead, Forlonge is non-committal about repeating the challenge next year, citing the stressful nature of the past month. However, he remains committed to supporting the cause, encouraging people to find other ways to help, such as donating directly through FightMND or supporting their annual Big Freeze campaign.
“I’m certainly happy to at least play my part this year,” he concluded, expressing his deep gratitude for all the financial and emotional support he received throughout the challenge.
– Tully Potts
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