R.U.T.H. Run 2026

It’s taken a few weeks of recovery and time to reflect, but we’re already looking forward to next year’s event. It’s safe to say though, that this year’s R.U.T.H. Run was better than ever.

The weather was absolutely perfect with one of those electric blue Spring day skies that literally puts a spring in everyone’s step. It seem to make all the colours and cheer that much louder as the runners and walkers tackled that ridiculous final hill. There were costumes, karaoke boxes, medals, sizzling breakfasts, tired legs and a whole lot of laughter. My attempt to channel Joan Fonda with my costume (designed at 10pm on RUTH Run eve) was an epic fail… but hey… it doesn’t matter what we were wearing or how we got up the hill, the important thing was we did it.

Look back, I keep thinking about how many people it took to make one Sunday morning happen. Behind all of it was something truly special: a community of people who simply turned up and helped.

Our volunteers were everywhere. They helped people find their way, marshalled the course, handed out medals, served breakfast, cheered people up the hill (with the help of the karaoke boom box), helped with bags and jackets, answered questions and did all those little jobs that nobody notices when an event is running well. Some had been helping long before anyone arrived at Birdsland that morning, and others stayed until the last bits and pieces were packed away.

Belgrave Ferntree Gully Rotary were right there beside us, helping with the practical jobs that turn an idea into an actual community event. The Monbulk Men’s Shed added the RUTH Run 2026 details to our medals, giving everyone something wonderfully local to take home and Pauline Clemm from Sliding Door Photography once again captured the people, movement and joy of the day in a way we never could ourselves.

Then there are the businesses and organisations that chose to put something behind the event. Fit For Life Upper Ferntree Gully came on board as our event sponsor, with Loz and Jono throwing themselves into the day and Jono getting everyone warmed up and ready to tackle the course. Along with volunteers, Belgrave Ferntree Gully Rotary also helped us as an event partner, and we truly look forward to growing that relationship too. Cognoscenti Wine Bar in Belgrave and Glen Cooks Food generously provided prize vouchers, while Glen Cooks Food also helped us finish the morning the best possible way, through his fabulous food of course.

Bulk Nutrients supported us through grant funding for signage and safety equipment. That contribution is particularly special because those things don't disappear when the event finishes, but become part of the equipment we can use to keep creating safe, accessible community activities into the future.

Every sponsor, volunteer, community organisation and person who participated contributed something different, but together they created the RUTH Run. That’s as good as a big hug for us and yes it definitely filled our cups.

Mums of the Hills has always been about connection, whether that’s through a conversation online or answering a question when another person doesn't know where to turn. Sometimes it is hundreds of people standing at Birdsland on a Sunday morning, encouraging someone they may never have met before to keep going up a very big hill.

You’ve heard us say this over and over again…the RUTH Run was never really just about running. It was about showing up, having a go, helping someone else along and discovering that difficult things feel a little more manageable when you're surrounded by people cheering you on.

To every volunteer, sponsor, partner, runner, walker, supporter and person shouting through a karaoke box on that hill: thank you for being part of it.

You made the RUTH Run 2026 something pretty special.