Mums hit the gym floor

They didn’t knock off the world record for burpees but it was still a great day for a group of Gippsland mums who hit the floor for a training session with training guru Colette McShane recently.

The women are in training for the Run Melbourne fund-raiser to be held on Sunday, July 26.

Last Saturday week they gathered at St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School gym for a high-intensity session with Ms McShane, the founder of HIIT Mums and designer of a very popular exercise app “for mums and other busy people”.

Ms McShane and several trainers led the group, members of Beat the Blues Gippsland, through a series of exercises designed to build up their stamina for the run.

Organiser Louise Clark, a personal trainer herself, said they didn’t beat the world record for simultaneous burpees (which stands at 295) but the partici- pants had a great day and raised $3500.

All proceeds of the gym day, the run and other events will go to beyond blue, the national organisation tackling depression.

This is the second year the Beat the Blues Gippsland team has taken part in the run.

Ms Clark, whose brother Derek committed suicide, organised the team to raise funds for services to help people with depression and to raise awareness.

“Until Derek died, we didn’t realise how many people suffered from depression.”

So far more than 120 people have signed up for Beat the Blues Gippsland and they are hoping to get more. “The more people we can get, the better.” People can run – or walk – distances from five to 21 kilometres.

Anyone interested in joining them can contact Ms Clark on 0411 256 818.