Athletes from all around Australia will be arriving in Gatton en masse on Saturday, November 17 when the 30th annual 500km Team Endurance Relay races into town.
More than 300 athletes have signed up for the gruelling charity event, which sees participants braving searing heat, endless hills and fatigue as they spend three days running through regional south-east Queensland to raise funds for Endeavour Foundation.
The iconic endurance running event started in 1980, when a group of athletes ran from Tamworth to Brisbane for charity – and since then, it has raised almost $700,000 for charity.
Participants start running at the break of dawn and keep going non-stop in a relay until sunset. It’s the last event on the running calendar – which means the athletes are in prime condition and prepared to be tested physically and mentally by the challenging course and unforgiving Queensland summer heat.
Race Director Phil Hungerford has described the 500km Team Endurance Relay as one of the most difficult and challenging events that runners encounter. This year it will take 14 teams comprised of 16-22 runners each from Brisbane through Beaudesert, Boonah, Warwick, Killarney, around to Toowoomba and back to Fernvale as they sweat it out for a range of coveted titles – including Overall Winner of the 2012 competition.
But it’s not just about speed, because the more money a team raises for Endeavour Foundation, the more time is taken off the team’s finishing time, putting everyone in the running for the Challenge Handicap Trophy. There are also awards for the Down The Range Dash, Criterium races, Highest Fundraiser and much more.
All funds raised from the relay will go to Endeavour Foundation, which supports more than 3350 people with a disability throughout Queensland and in Sydney, to have the choices of an ordinary life.
And big-hearted Warwick residents are ready to pitch in and support the relay when it passes through, with supported employees at Endeavour Foundation’s local business service set to prepare biscuit hampers for more than 300 hungry runners when they arrive in Warwick on Saturday.
There will be quite a few celebrity mouths to feed, including Olympic marathon runner Michael Shelley from the Gold Coast, whose awe-inspiring time of 2:14:10 at the 2012 London Olympics put him in 16th place. The only Australians ever to run an Olympic marathon faster than Shelley are legends Robert de Castellata and Steve Moneghetti.
Supported employees at Endeavour Foundation’s Warwick business service will distribute the hampers at Leslie Park in Warwick at 11.45am Saturday, November 17 and manager Terry Politch said his team is looking forward to helping out with the relay.
“Supported employees are really excited to be a part of the 500km Team Endurance Relay and they are looking forward to meeting the runners on the day,” he said.
The race will restart at Leslie Park at 12.30pm and runners will spend the rest of the day racing to Greenmount before driving to Toowoomba for the last day of racing through Toowoomba, Gatton and Fernvale.
Endeavour Foundation is one of Australia’s largest non-government providers of services for people with a disability. They provide accommodation, education, training, vocational and lifestyle opportunities for more than 3,350 people with a disability at 230 locations across Queensland and in Sydney. Find out more at www.endeavour.com.au.
