By Laura Michell
Have you spotted a man running around Whittlesea and Mernda dressed as a cow in recent months and wondered what it’s all about?
Whittlesea resident Darren Woods has been putting his inhibitions aside and running around town in a cow onesie to raise awareness for South African charity CHOC Childhood Cancer Foundation and to train for October’s Melbourne Marathon.
Mr Woods first started raising money for the foundation by completing a 90km run in South Africa earlier this year.
After the run, he was given a cow ‘onesie’ as the cow is the foundation’s symbol.
Mr Woods said that he was too shy to wear the ‘onesie’ at first, but soon saw the benefits of running around town in it.
“I put it on for the first time in June and started running in it. On my first run, I got pulled over by the police. I can only imagine what they thought …” Mr Woods said. “It gets people’s attention.”
Mr Woods, who is an ultra runner, can be seen training for the Melbourne Marathon four times week, covering up to 40 kilometres. He also takes part in the Mernda parkrun every Saturday.
Mr Woods has donation tins set up at Luscombe Automotive, Annett Hallam Podiatrist in Walnut Street, Cafe 59 and Shrimpy’s Fish and Chips in Whittlesea.
