Fifteen-year-old Daniel Green ran 300 km last year and will participate in Fred’s Big Run again in August . Photo: Supplied.
A Hay teenager who started running to raise money to fight blindness when he was just nine is preparing to hit the pavement once again this August.
Daniel Green, 15, will take part in Fred’s Big Run for the seventh consecutive year, using his love of running to raise funds for The Fred Hollows Foundation’s work restoring sight and preventing avoidable blindness.
The annual challenge encourages Australians of all ages and abilities to run, walk, swim or ride throughout August while raising money to support eye health programs in Australia and around the world.
Participants can choose to complete a 50 km, 100 km or 150 km challenge individually or as part of a team, although Daniel’s efforts have often gone well beyond those targets.
Daniel first participated in the event in 2020.
“I got involved when my mum found out about the event. I figured that I loved running so thought, why not use it for such an important cause,” he said.
Since then, the Hay local has become one of the event’s most dedicated young participants, returning year after year to raise money and awareness for people living with avoidable blindness.
Daniel said support from Hay residents had played a major role in keeping him motivated.
“The whole community always gets behind me. When it’s August, they wave to me and shout out to me while I’m running,” he said.
Daniel Green has lots of people waving to him when he runs through Hay. Photo: Supplied.
Away from Fred’s Big Run, Daniel has developed into an accomplished long-distance runner. He regularly competes in endurance events and will travel to Griffith this week to compete in the Half on the Hill race.
He said the legacy of the late eye surgeon and humanitarian Fred Hollows continued to inspire him.
“I’ve been inspired by how his whole life was dedicated towards a cause without any desire for personal benefit,” he said.
As he prepares for another month of fundraising and training, Daniel hopes more Riverina residents will join him.
“I’d like to see more people in my area sign up, so we can run more kilometres,” he said.
“My aim is to raise $1000; I’m already almost halfway there.”
Since launching in 2020, Fred’s Big Run has attracted almost 40,000 participants across Australia. Together they have raised close to $9 million and covered more than 5.3 million kilometres in support of The Fred Hollows Foundation.
This year’s campaign aims to raise $1.5 million to help deliver sight-saving surgeries, train local eye health workers and provide equipment and care for people experiencing preventable vision loss.
Leading the 2026 campaign is Winter Paralympian Georgia Gunew, who lives with the degenerative eye condition Stargardt’s macular dystrophy. Returning ambassador Turia Pitt, members of the Hollows family and vision-impaired open water swimmer James Pittar are also backing the challenge.
The foundation is also launching Fred’s Big School Run this year, encouraging students across Australia to get active, fundraise and learn more about avoidable blindness.
According to The Fred Hollows Foundation, nine out of 10 people who are blind or vision impaired do not need to be, making avoidable blindness one of the world’s most solvable health challenges.
People can register for Fred’s Big Run free of charge and support Daniel’s fundraising efforts through his website.
