THE Mounties Miler will bring runners, schools and community groups together in Mount Helena to raise funds for student resilience programs through ROAR Inc.

Organised by Mount Helena Primary School in partnership with ROAR Inc, the inaugural event will see participants complete a 5km loop every hour on the hour for 32 consecutive hours across October 3 and 4.

While some runners will attempt the full 160km challenge, others can participate by completing a single lap or joining a relay team.

Mount Helena Primary School principal and event organiser Claire Slater said the event was an opportunity to strengthen and bring together the local community.

“It’s about the bigger picture and about the way that I can support and connect the community together to help our little people, essentially,” Ms Slater said.

“I have run marathons myself and I think this is a great way to help not only challenge ourselves but also raise funds for a great program that builds mental toughness in kids.

“As a teacher, as an educator, we know one of the biggest things for our students is supporting them with developing their resilience and their ability to cope with all sorts of challenges in life, and I think sport and endurance is one of those ways.

“I wanted this to be a really big community event.”

Ms Slater said she hoped the fundraiser would generate enough money to bring ROAR’s resilience program back to the school while encouraging people to be part of something bigger than themselves.

“It’s about connecting with others and connecting to the bigger picture of, if we can raise this money for these little people, this is going to help them to have better mindsets and better mental health as they go through life,” she said.

“The point is being able to encourage other people to feel that and to know that when they’re doing this, it’s not just about a physical challenge.”

Ms Slater said she had already seen the program encourage students to keep working towards goals rather than giving up when faced with setbacks.

“I think it was just that sense of knowing that it’s okay not to be able to do it as well, and there’s other ways you can get to it,” she said.

“You might not always get it first time, but if you keep going and you keep persisting, then you’re going to get there.

“We had a student that wasn’t able to complete their fitness challenge during their first attempt, but they came back again and were able to find success because they persisted.

“Don’t let your mind stop you from doing amazing things.”

The Mounties Miler will start from the Mount Helena parkrun course on Saturday, October 3, with registrations open to individuals, teams and community groups.

More information may be found by contacting Mt Helena Primary School on 9573 0000 or ROAR Inc on 0493 881 367.