Just for fun...
The Endeavour Foundation 500km Summer Challenge - 2006
Article by Hubertien Wichers
One of the activities the Ashgrove Rangers is involved in is the Endeavour Foundation
500km Summer Challenge which was this year held on 17 - 19 November.
Whilst it is called a challenge because the team has to run 500km, it is more about fun, a good team effort, camaraderie, team rivalry, racing and training. The overall purpose of the weekend is to raise funds for the Endeavour Foundation that support people with an intellectual disability. This year the funds raised by the 19 participating teams were in excess of $100,000; something to be proud of.
Our team is called the 'Bush Rangers' or in short 'Russell's Bushies' after our team manager and vice president of the club Russell Adams. This year we came 4th overall and were the first 'mixed' team with men and women.
The race starts at Helensvale at the Gold Coast and runs in stages, broken
up in small sections (2.7 - 6.8km), to Canungra, Beaudesert, Rathdowney, Boonah
(end of first day), Aratula, Warwick, Toowoomba (end second day), Gatton,
Laidley and Ipswich (finish). At the end of each stage there is a restart,
with the slowest teams starting first and the fastest last, to avoid the race
spreading out too much. There are 3 criterions and a 1500 meter race run in
the towns of Boonah, Warwick, Toowoomba and Gatton. This is a fun change to
the normal relay, as all the teams and some locals gather to cheer on the teams.
Each team has to provide 6 runners for each criterion and 4 runners for the 1500 meter event.
Every team consists of about 18 - 22 team members. Some teams are very competitive; others have a more relaxed approach, which is sometimes covered up by the excuse of the old age of the team members.
Russell's Bushies is serious about putting in the best effort, our slogan is 'Go Hard or Go Home', but team members are still retained if they are not as fit as they could be, and that is because they are good company. Some of the efforts stood out: Neil Labinsky running down the range (5.5km) from Toowoomba in 13:57 and winning the special trophy 'Robin Hood Down the Range Dash' for about the 5th time; Adam being overtaken by the Telstra team up the hill into Gatton, but outkicking Telstra on the way down into town, securing our team a second place for that stage; and Eric making it to the start of the race!
Also there is time for a beer at the end of the day, and Russell makes sure that we have great lodge/motel type of accommodation, which is a welcome alternative to the standard accommodation provided by the race organisers (a school hall in which some snorers ensure that the rest does not sleep very well!).
Safety is a major issue as the race is run on the road, so every team has a follow vehicle to protect the runner, and time penalties can be incurred if safety rules are broken. Each team also has a bus to take runners to and from change over points and a water vehicle to water and cool runners, especially during the hottest parts of the day. Another great effort was that no-one was left behind, which is very easy to do if you have a team that is spread out over 3 vehicles. We picked up one of the runners of the Victory Team, who had to cheer us on from then on.
The Victory Team once again kept their title this year and won the overall race. Besides the overall winner's trophy and Neil's trophy there is a handicap trophy won by the Endeavour Team (calculated by their race and fundraising results) and there are trophies for the fastest male and female up the range, the fastest female down the range, each criterion, the highest and the runner up highest fund raiser, and the best team spirit. To win the latter trophy some people dressed up in such a threatening way that we hardly dared getting out of the bus!
All in all, it is a great weekend which reminds me a bit of a school camp with lots of fun, camaraderie, rivalry and above all racing and training!
