Emily Coupar, Joy Drake, Samantha Carter and Aish Ravi hit the bikes in preparation for April’s big event. 76668Picture: Donna Oates
By Russell Bennett
A NARRE Warren awesome foursome will soon tackle one of Melbourne’s toughest endurance challenges to raise money for the global fight against poverty.
The team of ladies from Fernwood Gym is known in trailwalking circles as the ‘Fernwood Firecrackers’ and is this year aiming to smash through the 100-kilometre Oxfam Melbourne Trailwalk in under 20 hours.
This April, 43-year-old Fernwood club manager Joy Drake will stand proudly alongside team mates Aish Ravi, Emily Coupar and Samantha Carter for the annual charity trek from Wheelers Hill to Wesburn in the Yarra Valley.
Oxfam Trailwalker startedin 1981 as a military trainingexercise for the elite Queen’s Gurkha Signals Regiment in Hong Kong, and has grown into one of the world’s biggest team endurance events.
It has truly gone global, with participants racing the clock in 17 locations across 13 countries.
More than 700 teams will try to complete the Melbourne challenge in under 48 hours, but the Firecrackers are aiming for 19.
Two of the four-woman team from Fernwood Gym have previous experience on the trail, and the other two, Ms Drake says, are “machines”.
Team members’ ages range from 21 to 43, and Ms Drake said the Firecrackers’ experience with tough physical exercise would be a big strength for the challenge ahead.
“We train three days per week in places like Lysterfield, Belgrave and Olinda,” Ms Drake said.
“We do it because Oxfam is such a great organisation, and we all just wanted to be involved in some way.”
The Firecrackers are offering sponsorship places for their team shirts, with local companies invited to donate at least a minimum of $40 to the Oxfam cause.
“For a team to register, it must commit to raising a minimum of $1000 and there’s a $700 registration fee but absolutely all the proceeds go to Oxfam,” Ms Drake said.
“We’re looking to raise $5000, and we’re currently at $1100 so there’s some work to go yet.”
Ms Drake said the hundreds of volunteers involved in the event each year, and the stories from other competitors inspired her to participate in the trailwalk.
The Fernwood Firecrackers will hold a tropical cocktail-themed fundraising night on 24 March, again with all proceeds headed directly to Oxfam. For more information, call 9705 1999.
