Please find attched a short story of the event and some pictures. To summarise, there were the two participants, 55 kilometres and over $1500 raised. It's a shame it was the only Australian event.
Thanks again,
Glenn
P.S. We hope to have it bigger and better next year!!
It began as a dare and ended up being a 55k journey to raise money for UNICEF as part of World Run Day. Glenn Hayward, a physical education teacher from Engadine High School was told by a student that he could not run from home to work via road and bush tracks, and he took on the challenge. When asking running partner Neil Harper to accompany him, Neil suggested they make it a World Run Day event and raise money for UNICEF. It so happened that the New South Wales Department of Education and the New South Wales Teacher’s Federation (union) were supporting UNICEF as well so the run fell into place.
The race began at 1.30am on the 6th November (still 5th November in the US) in wet and blustery conditions. The course wound its way through coastal villages and then into the Royal National Park (The 2nd oldest in the world) where the run continued on hilly bush tracks to the finish. Neil developed some problems after 10k but continued. A third runner, Marie-Claire Kurt, joined the two starters for a 10k stretch in the dark hours and provided social and physical support. When Marie-Claire left Neil decided to continue but was not 100%. Neil eventually withdrew after 40k and 5 hours – a great effort in the conditions and circumstances. Glenn continued to the finish at Engadine High School where he was greeted by 200 students in a time of 6hours, 43minutes. A barbeque breakfast was supplied courtesy of local businesses with money raised donated to the cause. Total monies collected via donations and student activities have exceeded $1500.
The event was covered briefly by the local community newspaper, the Sutherland Shire Leader, with credit given to Engadine High School and World Run Day
