How would feel you feel lugging a 50kg stretcher, non-stop, for a click over 42km?
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Sure it’s not everyone’s ideal weekend escape but then again, this was not your everyday walk – this was something special.
Volunteers from around Australia made tracks for Gunnedah recently to take part in the inaugural Sharing the Load Challenge.
People from all walks of life and wide-ranging backgrounds opened their hearts and wallets to help raise funds for veterans’ charity, Wandering Warriors (WW).
“I’m proud of them but they should also be proud of themselves.”
- Greg Sams
From teachers to firefighters, builders, trainers as well as current and former army personnel were involved.
The fundraising premise was simple – three teams would carry three stretchers, each weighing 50kg, over a 42.2km circuit on the town’s fringes.
On route to the finishing line, all stretcher bearers were doing it tough, including Doug Balcomb – a builder from Canberra.
“It’s not real pleasant at the moment,” Doug gasped, mid-stride on the return journey into Gunnedah.
“I’ve got sore legs, I know that much.
“I’m not exhausted, it’s just my legs are caning.
“But I think once we see that road into Gunnedah in about 5km, it will lift everybody’s spirits a touch.”
Blistered and bruised, six hours after they started, all three stretcher teams rounded the final turn for the home stretch.
Among them was ex-SAS major and WW executive officer, Quentin Masson, who was glowing at the team’s finishing time.
“... just over six hours, there are a lot of people who can’t run a marathon in that pace let alone carry a stretcher,” the former special operations officer said.
“That was a cracking pace the guys set today and fantastic effort all round.”
Masson, who spent almost 20 years in the military before finishing up as a squadron commander in Perth, was humbled to see the people power in action.
“The motives behind this activity are brilliant and being aligned to an event such as this helps our cause.
“It’s quite humbling to have people in Australia that really feel they believe it’s worth supporting our veterans when they come back.”
He said recent world events emphasised the importance of the WW charity and the service they provide.
“We just finished our longest war ever, being the Afghanistan campaign and it looks like that job isn’t quite finished yet,” he said,
“WW is a strategic veterans’ charity and we provide much-needed funds to veterans charities that support mentally wounded, physically wounded and disabled veterans when they come back.
“There are a lot of good people doing good work in veteran’s charities but sometimes they don’t always have the ability to fundraise so that’s where we fit in; we act like an umbrella charity.
“There is only so much funding and grants the government can provide and it’s really about a community response and I think this event epitomises that notion.”
Also among those “Sharing the Load” as stretcher bearers was a spirited bunch from the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA).
The team travelled by car from Canberra overnight on Friday to meet up with their fellow stretcher teams just hours before stepping off in Gunnedah about 5am on Saturday.
The budding defence officers had considered other team-building events like Tough Mudder but settled on Sharing the Load because of the meaning the challenge represented.
“It keeps everything in perspective,”ADFA team member Luke Ede-Jones said.
“You think I’m going through pain but the cause we’re doing this for is people who have been through much more pain than we’ll probably ever go through.”
It was a sentiment echoed by Jenny Fitzpatrick who was part of Brisbane-based stretcher team.
“It was tough and challenging but not nearly as challenging as what our servicemen and women have been through,” Jenny said. “I’m so glad I did it because it has raised so much more awareness for the cause which is why we did it and being here and raising the money for this fabulous charity.”
Event co-ordinator Greg Sams, from Gunnedah’s Battle PT 2380, was proud as punch of all members for completing the task, especially his locally trained Gunnedah stretcher team.
“We’ve done something like this now and achieved it,” Sams said.
“It was down to 10, nine and sometimes seven or eight people per stretcher and we still smashed it.
“A lot of them wanted to give up; you could see them bending over, so you’d come and give them a slap on the back and they’d push through.”
A highlight for Sams was the courage exhibited by these everyday Aussies to push their own known physical and mental boundaries.
“The best thing is we had three stretchers start and three finish,” he said.
“We had contingency plans that we might have to drop one stretcher team and blend them into the remaining two teams... it could have come to that but it didn’t because everybody dug deep.
“They kept going even though they were hurting.
“I’m proud of them but they should also be proud of themselves.”
Another clocking up the miles on the stretcher teams was WW chief executive officer Audie Moldre.
The 66-year-old Vietnam veteran reckoned the most onerous lifting he had done lately was swinging a golf club.
“The heaviest thing I’ve lifted in the last five years is a one wood,” Moldre joked.
And how does that go?
“No good though, it would be better if I could keep it down the centre,” he replied.
On a serious note though, Moldre was impressed by the commitment of the stretcher teams to go the distance.
“These guys are awesome, I’m blown away by the way everyone hung in there and did so well... it’s just brilliant,” he said.
He considered the Sharing the Load challenge good preparation for his upcoming WW walk from Brisbane to Canberra which will also raise funds and awareness for their not-for-profit charity.
Moldre felt the sense of community and motivations behind the people involved in the stretcher challenge hit at the heart of what the WW organisation is all about.
“For the wounded, the injured, the ill... community is the thing and this is exactly what it is about,” he said.
“Everybody who has sponsored Greg (challenge co-ordinator), put money up, that’s community in front of you.
“People see this, veterans see this, and think well, people actually appreciate us.
“My war was Vietnam and people didn’t get much appreciation after coming from that one I can tell you.
“And we can never do that again to veterans.
“What these guys do in uniform, they do on behalf of all of us.
“I don’t think there’s a better brand than uniform these days when you look at community and say who can you trust.”
More than $30,000 was raised for Wandering Warriors through the Sharing the Load challenge.
The funds included $5000 raised through a memorabilia charity auction held at the post-event dinner.
Co-ordinator Greg Sams said plans were already under way to stage an even bigger and better stretcher challenge next year.
For more information on WW or to donate, go to wanderingwarriors.org