Rural Health Rocks … and makes it!
For nearly four gruelling weeks, eight of MUDRIH’s hardiest (known collectively as “Rural Health Rocks”) marched, strolled, danced, staggered, limped and crawled their way from Cape Otway in Victoria to Lake Macquarie in New South Wales (at least virtually) a distance of 1664km or more than two million steps. The team managed to register a very creditable 9th placing among the 25 Monash Gippsland teams competing.
The team of Sue Barker, Cathy Beamish, Kerry Bell, Fiona McCook, Janelle McGrail, Clare McHugh, Jenny Moloney and Clare Van den Dolder – carrying only a step-and-calorie-counting pedometer and homemade healthy lunches to sustain them – made a slow start, taking some time to reach the first checkpoint at Torquay.
However, when the going got tough and the adrenaline kicked in the Rockers got going, so Mt Kosciuszko raised barely a sweat as the team piled on the pressure and surged to within seven places of the lead.
However, the effort proved too much, though there was some talk of mechanical failures, and within coooeee distance of the finish the team faltered to drop back a couple of places in the crowded field.
The stand-out performance was from Jenny Moloney who, in managing the GRIPS project and chasing after young children, covered over half a million steps. Special mention should also be made of Kerry Bell who strode the decks and tripped the light fantastic on board her Pacific cruise ship to keep us in the race and of Sue Barker who shrugged off the heat of Nauru and nagging knee injuries to stay focused and keep going.
Most of all, thanks to all the Rockers for their wonderful efforts and for entering into the spirit of the walk and also to Julie Irvine and the rest of MUDRIH social committee for getting us all involved.
Fiona McCook, Captain of ‘Rural Health Rocks’