Marathon effort ahead

Despite a recent family tragedy, Southern Cross's young fundraising superstar, Scott Guerini is gearing up for his annual marathon walk.

The nine-year-old has been raising money for Telethon since he was four years old, and now has an even stronger reason to keep up his efforts.

In April, Scott's younger cousin and big supporter, Joel, passed away.

While recent weeks have been tough, Scott is determined to continue his fundraiser, dedicating it to his cousin.

"I'm doing the walk to raise money for sick kids and babies, and for my cousin Joel, who always helped me get through it," he said.

"It makes me feel happy to know I am helping others in need of help.

"And if I don't do it, who will?"

In memory of Joel, Scott and his support team will be wearing orange - his favourite colour - during the July 4 marathon.

Scott will be walking 42.195km down the Koolyanobbing Road to the Southern Cross Oval from 6am, and is expecting to arrive at the finish line by 6.30pm.

Always in awe of her charitable son, Nicole Guerini said she was extra proud of him for continuing his fundraiser so soon after losing Joel, who was one of his main supporters.

"Scott would be on the road, legs hurting, wondering if he could keep going on, and Joel would pop up at different spots along the way and entertain him, put his hand out and say 'I'll help you Scotty'," Mrs Guerini said.

"Scott was the big cousin who Joel looked up to and they just thought the world of each other, so it has left a very big hole in our family.

"He is always excited to do it (the marathon) but he is a bit reserved about it this year just because Joel will be missing and he isn't too sure how he will feel on the day… but he is determined."

Scott had a bit of a warm-up for his marathon earlier this year, walking 12km as Telethon's Young Ambassador in the HBF Run for a Reason event.

Now, as he gears up for a walk more than three times the distance, Mrs Guerini said she was starting to think of different ideas to keep him distracted and to make the time pass quickly.

"We normally have music playing in the support car, so he is quite often dancing down the road as he goes," she said.

"Last year we had some laser guns and played a bit of laser tag.

"We just think of a million different things to keep him distracted from the distance and the pain, because there is not a lot of stuff out on that road which makes it seem even longer in certain patches."

Anyone interested in joining Scott for some of his walk are more than welcome to, and people all around the country are encouraged to wear orange on the day to remember Joel and show their support for the walk.

To donate to the fundraiser visit www.everydayhero.com.au and search for “Scott’s marathon for telethon”.