6 October 2012 - Trailblazer Challenge

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Parent Category: South Australia

Category: Adelaide

Created: Wednesday, 10 October 2012 07:57

The Trailblazer Challenge is an annual multi stage team fundraising event held in Adelaide. This year saw it celebrate its 10^th anniversary. The event is held over two days and has legs of 18, 34, 50 and 100 kilometres. The event raises funds for Operation Flinders, a program to help children at risk aged between 14 & 18. Operation Flinders takes the children out to the Flinders Ranges for an 8 day exercise and attempts to give them life skills through a range of activities. It's an excellent program that has had some great results. It also takes these kids to an extraordinarily beautiful part of the state that many city kids wouldn't get the opportunity to enjoy. If anyone wishes to donate towards Operation Flinders (it is tax deductible for Australian Residents) please go to our team fundraising site http://everydayhero.com.au/peregrination which should be up until November 2^nd. 

There are multiple stages you can sign up for:

18km – Adelaide to Athelstone via Linear Park West

34km – The Above then on to Morialta

50km – The above then onto Mount Lofty Summit

100km – The above then onto Kuitpo Forest

back 50km – Mount Loft Summit to Kuitpo Forest (Starts at 7pm and goes through the night)

Each stage has a different cost associated with it to enter and a different minimum fundraising target.

This year is the first time I've taken part and my partner and I decided to do the 18km. I also decided that I would do this with my house on my back, this time around adding cooking equipment and small first aid kit to the mix raising the weight to around 14-14.5kg.

Registration is at Pinky Flat in the city and runs between 5:30 and 6:30am. According to the presenters there were some 1250 of us there that morning on the shores of the Torrens, the sun softly shining through thin cloud. There is a small military band softly playing with the presenter occasionally overriding with updates. It is a great morning for a walk and even with a thousand of us, it doesn't seem crowded. That is until...

At 6:55 we take our places. Fast runners at the front and walkers at the rear. With the crowd condensing around the start gate, it feels like a full event.

7am and the canon fires and away we swarm. A tsunami of people cover the trail and hill, surging forward, filling every space visible going forward. It felt strange to be in this pack, making my way forward along an asphalt path maybe 3 metres wide. I wanted to stretch out my legs, get my rhythm rocking and make a go of it but couldn't. There were no openings. It actually took until around the 4km mark before the crowd thinned out enough for a relaxed walk.

It's a pretty and relaxing walk and it seems that most people are having fun with it the way it should be. Linear Park East is very nice stretch of park leading up to the hills along the River Torrens. It is well signposted and is paved almost the entire way. This path is also an excellent track for a bike ride as well, although more people do the Linear Park West which goes from the city to Henley Beach.

Trailblazer Challenge 2012

There are a number of playgrounds with toilet and barbecue facilities along the way. Trailblazer have also set up a hydration point halfway along the way to help those that haven't brought enough water, or who rely on the stations to keep them light.

At the end of the 18km is the 1^st checkpoint and where our journey ends this time, finishing at 3 ½ hours. All participants are scanned in and their times recorded enabling the organisers to track their status. We are given a medallion to celebrate the conclusion. The checkpoint is in a nice open park and they have an excellent set up here with a tent offering fruit,snacks and water with electrolytes. Another tent offers fresh bacon & egg rolls for a $2 donation.

Many participants sit and enjoy the surrounds and a light snack, relaxing before starting up the next leg or heading home.

The Trailblazer challenge is an excellent day out, well organised, and just the right size. I very much look forward to doing it again next year, hopefully with the 34km or back 50km. But that is in the future and great deal can happen between now and then.

If anyone wishes to donate towards Operation Flinders (it is tax deductible for Australian Residents) please go to our team fundraising site http://everydayhero.com.au/peregrination which should be up until November 2^nd. Apparently Trailblazer have raised almost $200,000 this year for Operation Flinders which is a great outcome for the program and helps ensure that it will continue to do great work into the future.