250 reasons

Cal Gates family had been significantly affected by Leukemia, his wife's (Tara) Mum had passed away from it when she was 3 years old. Cal had seen the impact of what this disease had done to his family and friends over the years, Cal says, “it hurts and to be honest I don't think that pain will ever leave.”

9+ Years ago his wife Tara raised over $9,000 by shaving her head to raise further money for the study into Leukemia, the disease that had hurt her family. To say he was inspired was an understatement. Cal stated “often hair can represent so much for a woman, so to see her do this was an amazing thing to witness.”

So he thought about what he could do in order to contribute... he decided that he couldn’t shave his head because he had no hair already, so he kept thinking about what he could do that would help to raise some funds.

Cal had always like ultra-trail running, he had done a few ultras before, saying that was not particularly good at them (being 100kgs) but he loved them none the less.

So, on June the 2nd 2022 he decided to run from Newcastle to Sydney along the GNW trail in a single push. It is 250km in length (maybe a little more) and climbs over 10,000+m in vertical gain. At the time it as estimated to likely take approximately 60+ hours to complete. His goal was to raise $100 per km of the GNW trail totalling $25,000.

Cal believed that this was to become his ultimate test, prepared for discomfort, tears and significant pain. However, he believed that none of it even came close to the pain that people with Leukemia have had to face daily.

Cal ultimately completed the run and raised over $50,000. Check out the full story of the Blood Run on the show today.


Notable moments in this episode:

(09:50) - Running passion turn into a good cause
(13:59) - Cal’s commitment to not quit the 250KM run
(22:12) - Difficulties during the 250 KM run


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Follow Cal Gates:

Watch “The Blood Run” - https://www.avocabeachtheatre.com.au/films-and-events/the-blood-run/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/callan-gates-24a696a3/
Donate to Leukemia Foundation - https://fundraise.leukaemia.org.au/fundraisers/250reasons


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