Cowra proved to be the perfect starting point for The Great Escape 2019, raising money and awareness of Cystic Fibrosis.
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Twenty-four cars assembled at the Cowra Railway Station on Sunday afternoon for the annual event before the group took the opportunity to see the sights of the town and enjoy a function at the Cowra Rugby Club.
The cars were then flagged off by Cowra Mayor, Councillor Bill West on Monday morning before doing a lap of Cowra and heading off for Rankin Springs.
Track boss, former CEO of Cystic Fibrosis Australia (CFA) and current CEO of Cystic Fibrosis Worldwide, Terry Stewart, said while there are fewer cars this year compared to previous Great Escapes, there was still plenty of enthusiasm among the drivers.
"I think that it has high years and low years as far as numbers are concerned, this year's a low number, normally we are up to 35 to 45 cars, this year, we are only 24," he said.
"We've got three new cars this year, that's always good to get new blood, and the other thing that's happening is, there's a lot of young people starting to get involved."
One of those new people is Sarah Brown, who has jumped aboard with her husband Rob.
"Just something different, his [Rob's] dad has done it for a couple of years and then I said I wouldn't mind doing it so I just jumped aboard this year," she said.
"It's a good charity and happy to help out. Good fun along the way and meet the good people," Rob said.
Mr Stewart said while he doesn't know exact figures, he believes the total amount of money raised since the Great Escape was established in 2002 would be "in the millions".
He said money raised from the event goes towards a data registry used by CFA.
"We needed a cash injection for the data registry... that's a register of all the people that have Cystic Fibrosis in Australia," he said.
"It's used cynically and it's used for research and it's used in a social way too but it's an extremely important element for both health and research."
Mr Stewart said a number of the drivers have a personal connection to Cystic Fibrosis.
"They're characters and they are generous, so they enjoy the bush, they enjoy each other's company and they enjoy driving cars through the bush and all of that, doing it for a good cause," he said.
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"There are a number of people on the rally that have families affected by Cystic Fibrosis.
"They don't talk about that terribly much, they are out here to have fun too."
While this year's event will be run over nine days from Cowra to Canberra, Mr Stewart said future events will be seven days long.
"We're always looking for entrants and country people seem to enjoy travelling around in cars," he said.
To join The Great Escape or to see how the group is going, check out "Cystic Fibrosis Great Escape Fun Car Rally" on Facebook.