Fastest mixed team finish Oxfam’s 100km endurance event in record time

Events, General, Media Releases, News, Organisation news, Oxfam Trailwalker article written on the 14 Jun 2013

Oxfam Trailwalker Brisbane team “RedManRunners” finished the 100km trail in 14 hours tonight, a record time for a mixed team of two women and men to finish the Brisbane event.

All-male team “Shane’s Holiday Xperience” crossed the finish line first, minus team member Shane Lawley who was forced to pull out early.

“RedManRunners” were the first team to cross the finish line as a team of four, in 14 hours and 10 minutes.

Team members Sarah Pfeffer and Melanie Canfell said the team, which included other Brisbane locals Alan Barber and Shaun Mulholland, had been encouraged to keep pace along the mountainous trail by the volunteers.

“The run was great, every time we saw a volunteer it just lifted us up, they were the best,” Ms Canfell said.

The mum-of-six, including 16-year-old quadruplets, said the team had trained three times a week with a long run of around 30km every weekend to work up to the event.   

“Shaun’s Holiday Xperience” is aiming to run all four Australian Trailwalkers this year in less than 48 hours combined, but team members David Overend, David Wilson and Steve Whitehead admitted they had a challenge ahead of them in the Sydney and Perth Trailwalker events later this year.

“The Brisbane trail is a beautiful one, one of the best, but we will have to make up the time we lost,” team captain Mr Overend said.

The team will attempt to run the Trailwalker Sydney and Perth events in less than 23 hours and 20 minutes combined in August and October this year.

Trailwalker Brisbane Coordinator Simon Barwick said both teams should be congratulated on their achievements tonight.

“Completing a Trailwalker is no easy feat and running it is an amazing effort. The teams have pushed themselves to the extreme today,” he said.

The event might be over for some teams tonight but the majority are still on the trail, with most expected to finish on Saturday afternoon and others in the early hours of Sunday morning.

This weekend, 285 teams of four are walking or running 100km of rugged Queensland bush from Mt Glorious to Mt Coot-tha.