A marathon effort

Jason Green, General Manager of Royal Precision Lubricants at Corporate Energy Australia (CEA) Pty Ltd (pictured), like so many of his Australian workmates, is proud to support Kiwi Mark Ford’s efforts to put Stroke Aotearoa New Zealand’s life-saving work on the map on both sides of the Tasman.

“Mark Ford, as General Manager of Bitumen & Environmental Solutions – New Zealand at Fulton Hogan, and Ray Georgey, as Group Managing Director of CEA, have enjoyed a long and successful business relationship but the relationship runs much deeper than that now."

“Mark had a stroke that came completely out of the blue and Ray saw an opportunity to help his Kiwi mate.”

Nothing was set in concrete, but Ray found a way to help Mark pound the pavements and achieve his vision of not only improving his wellbeing but also supporting the vital work of Stroke Aotearoa.

To this end, the Brisbane-based CEA Group now sponsor Mark’s incredible work running ultra marathons in both Australia and New Zealand - raising awareness of stroke and the vital funding needed to reduce its devastating impact on lives.

Mark’s recovery continues to go from strength to strength. His love of running and passion for life has also seen him raise thousands of dollars. To date, CEA has gifted more than $7,500 in sponsorship to support his goal.

“Mark's doing such an admirable and courageous thing. I think so many businesses that we serve see what he's been doing and get lots of satisfaction and inspiration from that.”

Mark has made it his personal mission to let CEA know how their backing has made a difference.

“Mark came and presented a speech on his journey and what he does."

"By the end of the presentation, you could see the emotion on everyone’s faces - it impacted us all. We could see how far he'd come and how motivated he was.”

On Friday 28th November, Mark will take on his next 161km challenge at the UTMB World Series running the Kosciuszko Alpine Ultra-Trail in New South Wales’ beautiful Snowy Mountains.

“If Mark goes on and does some international racing and rounds (beyond Australasia) then we're going to contribute additionally for those events as well.”