Team Malcomson's Marathon journey
March 23, 2026
After Ross was diagnosed with MND in 2024, his sons Trent and Kane, and son-in-law Caleb, decided that they wanted to run the Melbourne Marathon for us—and they wanted their dad involved the entire way.
Trent, Kane, and Caleb took turns pushing Ross in a special wheelchair throughout the entire marathon track. At the MCG, Ross crossed the finish line on foot alongside his boys.
Trent spoke to us about their Melbourne Marathon experience.
After Dad’s diagnosis with MND in September 2024 we found the support for Dad and our family provided by MND Victoria to be extraordinary. They’re an amazing collection of people, working tirelessly to support those suffering with MND and their families by providing assistive equipment, counselling, carer support, and a dedicated advisor.
We saw a post on the MND Victoria Facebook page offering charity running spots in the sold-out Melbourne Marathon and jumped at the opportunity to share in such a significant sporting achievement whilst raising valuable funds for such a great charity. Dad has been a very physically active and fit person his whole life. He’s achieved several massive sporting milestones but never ticked off a marathon.
We started 10 months out and built up our distance gradually. Once the fitness started to build it was one of the most enjoyable and rewarding things I have ever done. The opening few runs were incredibly challenging but we stuck to it.
I was fortunate enough to travel to Europe mid-training for a few weeks with mum and dad, some of the training runs in Paris and London were very cool.
Marathon day was described to me as the “victory lap” and I do agree with that, it’s the culmination of months of hard work. Highlights on the day were everywhere, the support we received from other runners and people in the crowd was incredible.
We were very proud of being able to support MND Victoria, who have played such an important role in our lives since Dad’s diagnosis, and were exceptionally humbled by the generosity of everyone that contributed. We raised $60,000 for MND Victoria which we are incredibly proud of as a family.
The applause dad received in the MCG when we crossed the line was one of the best experiences of my life—him getting out of the wheelchair and finishing on foot with us is a life-memory.
I would encourage anyone thinking about doing it to give it a try—both Kane and my wives are currently training for the 2026 marathon, so it’s been great to watch them start their training.
My number one tip is to take your time with your training.
MND Victoria are a charity place partner for the 2026 Melbourne Marathon, happening on Sunday 11 October. You can apply to run for us now!
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