By Jane Southward -
Paul McDonald, a solicitor with Gilbert + Tobin, completed the 250km Big Red Run in the Simpson Desert in June with 52 other runners. The event has raised nearly $1 million for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation over five years and McDonald added $9,000 to the effort, much of it from donations from colleagues at Gilbert + Tobin.
Big Red is Australia’s only multi-stage desert ultra-marathon, a 250km, six-day event in which competitors run an off-road marathon of 42.2km each day for the first three days, then an ‘easy’ 32km slog on day four followed by a double marathon (84.4km) on the fifth day. The final day is an untimed 8km jog to the Birdsville Hotel where cold beer and warm congratulatory hugs are waiting.
