This year marked the third year of MS Research Australia’s national fundraising campaign, The May 50K. The virtual fitness and fundraising movement challenges Australians and the MS community to run or walk 50 kilometres throughout the month of May, whilst raising funds to power world-class research into MS.
This May, we saw over 28,600 Australians leave their limits behind by taking on a range of inspiring activities including cycling, running, horse riding, arm cranking, walking and paddle boarding – nothing was off limits! Some even completed their 50km in one day, taking the challenge to a whole new level. Once again, we’ve had more people participating in The May 50K than there are Australians living with MS (25,600), highlighting the incredible MS community who continue to work towards stopping MS in its tracks.
Together, The May 50K community logged a monumental 1,273,899 kilometres as part of the challenge, which equates to doing 31 laps around the world!
The competition also heated up this year, with 498 workplaces participating in the challenge, including Merck, Atlassian, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Australia, Nuzest, JBL and many more who fought for the top of the leaderboard, raising over $841,000 to leave MS behind.
The combined efforts resulted in an impressive $5.2 million raised for vital MS research – a remarkable outcome which will help to improve the lives of people living with the disease today and in the future! We’d like to thank you for putting your trust in us each year and passionately believing in our mission – you truly are our biggest motivation and inspiration.
Since the inaugural launch of The May 50K in 2019, you’ve now raised a record-breaking $13.9 million in Australia and $17.3 million globally to accelerate MS research. We’re still pinching ourselves!
The May 50K takes on the world
In 2021, The May 50K was also celebrated globally with participants from the US, Canada, Ireland, Netherlands and the UK leaving their limits behind. Across the globe, we saw over 11,130 people taking on the challenge, raising a collective AUD $2.2 million for life-changing MS research and access to treatment.
Watching the international growth of our Australian born The May 50K campaign, makes us so proud and excited for the future. Our global collaboration and teamwork is helping to unravel the mysteries of MS faster, and shaping a more certain and worry-free future for the 2.8 million people living with MS across the world.
Thank you – from the bottom of our hearts
Reflecting on this year’s The May 50K, we would like to say a massive thank you to our incredible fundraisers, their generous donors and supporters – we’re so grateful to have you on our team. You’ve showed us once again just how determined you are to leave MS behind by funding life-changing MS research. Thanks to you, we can continue vital research into MS, ensuring earlier prevention, better treatments and ultimately a cure for people living with MS.
Thank you for changing the lives of people living with MS by continuing to be the driving force behind this movement and enabling our superpower – MS research.
Now rest up and recharge, because we’re already getting ready for 2022!
Together, each year, we’re getting one step closer to leaving MS behind for good.
To register your interest for The May 50K 2022, please head to:
