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our top online donors
- judy mc cleary $500
Wonderful effort girls you are inspiring! xxxx
$500 is enough to provide 20 medical kits for people living with HIV/AIDS in Papua New Guinea.
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where does the money go?
Finished! 28 April
A very belated team wrap up. The Girls were thrilled to finish over 3 hours ahead of schedule in 20 hours and 49 minutes. It was in the dark of Saturday morning at 05:19 that we crossed the finish line hand in hand to the cheers of our support crew and some family and of course the amazing Oxfam volunteers. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all who donated, those who took the time to send us text messages of support along the way, those who phoned and met us at checkpoints and followed our journey online and of course last but definitely not least our fantastic support crew, Mark, Jason, Paul and Tony, we could not have done it without you guys. No of course, the big question, can we go under 18 hours next year Girls?
2 more sleeps 09 April
We have trained hard since November last year, there is nothing more we can do! We are all excited and nervous and ready to go, a big thanks to all our supporters we look forward to updating you after the big walk.
Taper Time 31 March
It has been a few weeks since the last update. Thanks to everyone who has made a donation, with Arlec matching our funds raised and with cash yet to be banked we are pleased to announce that we have reached our fund raising goal of $2000!!! After our long 55km day we followed up the next Sunday with what we all thought would be an easy flat 25km run along Beach Road. Unfortunately it was an unseasonably hot morning in Melbourne and although we made it not everyone was very happy (mostly Em who was sick). Despite it all our spirits remained typically high and we all cooled off with a dip in the ocean afterwards. On Good Friday Jay, Michelle and Corrie (Em was on the sunny Gold Coast for a family wedding) rugged up for a 19km run from CP 3 to CP 5. The trio felt stong and confident and were happy to tackle previously daunting hills with new found strength, by all accounts a great session. All of The Girls participated in the 14.1 Km Run for the Kids yesterday with some team members opting to add extra Kms either before or after the event as a final hit out before Tapering begins. There will be no training next Sunday, apart from a standard long run. Most importantly we will be getting together at the Pub with our support crew to work out the final details and logistics ahead of the big day. Less than 2 weeks to go now!!
More than half way 11 March
We took advantage of the long weekend and headed out on the trail for a long 11 hour training session last Sunday. We started at Olinda at about 2:40 on a warm afternoon to walk and run to the finish at Wesburn Park. Corrie and Michelle had left their cars at Woori Yallock (CP 7) where we had stashed food and drink for our dinner. Although it was a hot day we were lucky to be covering some very shaded parts of the trail and none of the team were troubled by the conditions. We all noticed a definite improvement in our fitness as we moved at a steady pace and only stopped for brief rests at the designated checkpoints, as well as another rest at the taps at Seville to refill our hydration packs. Woori Yallock was a sight for sore legs as we ripped open the Eskies and got stuck into our dinner, jam sandwiches, salty pretzels, sports drink and lollies. We were also joined by Hunter the wonder dog and Mark, very welcome company after the sun went down. A quick change of clothes and we were on our way again, we were blessed with a warm night. Jay, our resident bargain spotter had picked up 2 sets of poles on sale for us, so we had one of these each, though we mostly proved to be a bit technically deficient as we tried to figure out how to "make them bigger". By the time we reached the Backstairs track we knew we were into the final 6km, but also a very tough section, it was here that those poles really came in handy. Tanty Hill did not seem quite so daunting this time around either, maybe it was the dark or maybe we are all just that little bit fitter, either way we are less daunted about hitting this spot again on the big day. There was a bit of moaning and groaning after the hill as tired quads were asked to walk down the final steep section, but spirits were high as we knew we were almost finished. After a minor hiccup at the end were we ziggged when we should have zagged, ie, we got LOST :-) we finally made it to Wesburn Park.
what was that noise?! 03 March
A spot of adventure for the Girls who along with our able body guards, Mark, Jason and Hunter the unstoppable Weimaraner got together at 8:30 on Friday night for 30km along Warby Trail in the dark. Jay and Em had headlamps and Em learned very quickly to not keep looking off the trail to see what was making all the noises in the bushes as this then left everyone else in the dark. A few nocturnal animals were spotted along the way, a wombat, plenty of possums and the loud two legged variety having a big party at one of the houses close to the trail. We we rugged up in layers as we expected it to be quite cold, however once we got moving the layers were peeled back and we were blessed with a beautiful rain free evening. Having trained on Friday night we all enjoyed a relaxing and rare sleep in on Sunday morning. A big 55Km session is planned for this coming Sunday to take advantage of the public holiday on Monday when we can all rest and recover.
Oh, was that a hill? 25 February
First things first, The Girls would like to take the opportunity to thank ARLEC who thanks to Jay have very generously agreed to match whatever we raise dollar for dollar, so as of today our fund raising total is $1550! Yesterday all four of us hit the trail at 1pm, starting from Jells Park (with Em and Michelle having already run 4km from Michelle's house to the park) we set out to run and walk to Belgrave station 31kms away and about 3.5km shy of checkoint 3. We started out with the walk 1km then run 4km strategy until we hit the hilly section past Churchill Park. From that point we generally walked the hills and ran the flat sections. There was a particularly fast 3km section towards the end as Corrie and Em realised that maybe they should have taken that loo break at Lysterfield Lake. Although the weather looked ominous all morning we were treated to a beautiful sunny afternoon. Upon entering the Lysterfield Lake national park we happened across a very shy Echidna who tried to bury himself while we took pictures, and then further in the park a small mob of Kangaroo's happily posed for us. In the closing stages of today's session we all started to dread a couple of short(ish) but very sharp rises coming into Belgrave. However it seems that all our work in the hills is paying off as we put our heads down and ploughed though them, before we knew it we were at the station and the day was over. We all agreed that we are all starting to feel stronger and confidence ahead of the big day is growing.
Maybe going downhill is harder! 22 February
Last Sunday saw Em, Corrie and Jay meeting at Olinda to trek 30km from CP4 to CP7 at Woori Yallock (we missed you Michelle) This part of the course was mostly downhill and flat, much of the downhill was on trails and quite rocky, though it did take us though some beautiful parts of Olinda. Luckily we were able to enjoy the scenery on a stunning Sunday morning because the next time we pass though there it will be a dark autumn evening! We also spent about 13km on the Warby Trail from Mt Evelyn to Woori, a part of the trail that we are all very familiar with. We soon discovered that this is probably going to be the toughest section mentally as it is so flat and seemingly never ending. Whether or not the dark will be a help or a hindrance will remain to be seen. By all accounts this session was one of the toughest with all 3 Girls feeling the effects of DOMs in the quads and shins well into the following week from all the downhill work. During the morning we crossed Olinda Creek Road and headed up Olinda Creek Track, all the while wondering if we would happen across Olinda Creek, sure enough we did and Jay even took a photo as proof :-) This Sunday we will cover 30km from the start though to Puffing Billy and for a change this will be an afternoon session giving us all a chance for a rare Sunday morning sleep in and maybe some pancakes for breakfast (for carb loading purposes of course)
More Hills!!! 11 February
A nice long flat bit, an uphill bit, down again, up again, lovely long down hill, WHAT THE?! and then the last down hill and flat bit to the finish line. That sums up the last 2 stages of the Trailwalker course. WHAT THE?! refers to a rather charming 900 metre sheer incline that will meet us again in the final 5km in April. It was described as "Challenging" in the map guide, we call it pretty challenging after 20km, we dread to think what we will call it after 95Km! We have dubbed it Tanty Hill as we know that is what we will be chucking next time we have to walk up it. Despite this it was a great morning out for The Girls, we meet at Woori Yallock on a glorious misty morning and ran most of the flat section before going into Mountain Goat mode for the closing stages. Everyone finished strongly and we are gearing ourselves for a longer hit out next week were we plan on tackling the start to CP3.
Steep Hills and 1000 Steps 04 February
The Girls have been getting in some solid training over the last couple of weeks. Sunday 27th January saw the whole team starting at CP2 at Lysterfield Lake and running/walking to CP4 at Olinda. This is by far the toughest section of the course and we were pleased to finish this one still standing. We took the opportunity to start experimenting with the type of food we would like to eat and feasted on home made scones, jelly lollies and Gels, all went down well and there were no tummy troubles. Sunday 3rd February saw Jay, Corrie and Michelle (Em was flying home from Queensland and couldn't make it) tackle a tough 16km run in the hills followed by an arduous trip up the 1000 steps in Ferntree Gully. Michelle not thinking 1 go was enough turned around and headed up the steps a second time! Next weekend will see us completing the last 2 sections of the trail.
26km down, 74km to go! 14 January
Michelle, Em, Corrie and Hunter the Wonder Dog met early on Sunday morning for a 26km run and walk along the first part of the trail. Our plan was to run and walk, to get a feel for what works for us. With Hunter leading the way and sniffing out the path for us we warmed up then ran for 5km before stopping to walk for 1km, run for 5km and so on. We found that as we covered more ground it became harder on the legs to start running again after a walk break and we ended up running for about 15km and walking for 11km. Having covered almost twice the ground we had Hunter was still full of beans and we were lamenting the fact that Dogs are not allowed on the course because he would make the perfect Sherpa! We now plan on stepping up our training and when Jay returns from her overseas adventure at the end of this week we will start to tackle some of the tougher sections of the course. It is looking likely that The Girls will also enter the 30km Marondah Dam trail run on 17th February as a team training exercise, lots of big fat hills to challenge us.
