CFA team completes the Oxfam walk

(left to right) Jarrod Howlett, Simon Lehmann, Fred Deleo, Kev Randall

by Kevin Randall, Fire Officer, Greenvale Fire Station

The weekend of 11-13 April saw more than 2600 competitors take part in the 2008 Melbourne Oxfam Trailwalker. Teams of four had 48 hours to walk (or run!) the 100km route covering Jells Park in Wheelers Hill to Wesburn Park in the Yarra Valley.

This year a team of CFA firefighters took part in the annual event, the “Good2Go” team comprising of: Fire Officer Kevin Randall (R14), Leading Firefighter Simon Lehmann (R8), Leading Firefighter Fred Deleo (R13), and Firefighter Jarrod Howlett (R14).

This year’s event proved both challenging and rewarding.

The Oxfam Trailwalker is the world's greatest team challenge. And it's also one of the toughest. The challenge is to get your team of four across 100km of Australian bush in less than 48 hours - and, collectively, to raise at least $1,000 to help to overcome poverty and suffering around the world.

The event is all about teamwork – it was a great way for us as friends and work colleagues to develop a real team spirit, while raising funds for some of the poorest communities around the world and making a real difference. Starting together, going through each checkpoint together, and finishing together involved serious commitment and determination to break through mental and physical barriers in order to reach the finishing line.

We completed the nine stage legs – which took us through walking trails, national parks, and forest tracks – in a time of just over 25 hours. Out of 431 teams that completed the 100 km course without losing any of its members, we placed 144th. A staggering 14 complete teams and 342 walkers withdrew during the event, a reflection of the degree of difficulty experienced.

Our overall position was 215th out of the 650 teams that entered, not a bad effort at all for a first time around!

We raised just under $2000 for the charity and only lost 4 toe nails between us!

We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to our many sponsors and supporters as well as our support crew; with specific mention to:

• CFA Sports and Recreation Association
• Greenvale Fire Brigade and all its members
• Nicole and the guys at Corporate Health who assisted with fundraising and training advice
  

We look forward to further events in the future and being able to represent CFA within the community.

CFA team members on the Oxfam Trail