A rewarding Physical Challenge - The Bulletin
Who would have thought that running a 42.2km marathon would have brought smiles to the faces of those who need it the most? That was the outcome when Tim White from Tindall Gask Bentley joined the 2008 Burns Trust Challenge to conquer and complete the New York marathon. The 2008 Burns Trust Challenge successfully raised $40,000 for the Burns Trust Family Rescue ‘Scroggie Family’. The Barossa family were hit with tragedy when two of their girls, Jess (17) and Piper (5) were severely burnt in a camping accident, involving a gas bottle, in Ararat. The money was used to purchase a seven-seater Holden Captiva which the family now use to transport Jess and Piper to Adelaide for treatment. For Tim, competing in the New York marathon was something he always wanted to do, but it was the added bonus of raising money for a local charity that really lifted his enthusiasm. Tim threw himself into training for the event and was running anywhere from 60 – 80km a week, for six months, along with training with the marathon team each Sunday. His dedicated training regime paid off with him completing the course in three hours and 13 minutes. “With two million spectators, over 100 bands on the course and 40,000 competitors it was like the Christmas pageant only on a much bigger scale,” Tim said. “It was enjoyable to fi nish the entire course and surprisingly not quite as painful as I had expected.
“The added bonus was in raising the money for the Scroggie family. With young children myself it has given me a good knowledge about the dangers of gas bottles.” Each year the Julian Burton Burns Trust develops a challenge that is both mentally and physically testing. In previous years, the challenge group has walked the Kokokda Track, but according to Julian Burton this year’s challenge was a phenomenal experience. “New York embraced the event. It was phenomenal,” said Julian who completed the marathon in four hours 55 minutes. “My fi nishing time refl ected my training. It was a fantastic event and a great experience that I would do again in a fl ash. It hurt…. and my body didn’t work the way I wanted it to but it was defi nitely a great mental and physical challenge.” “Personally, on behalf of the Julian Burton Burns Trust and the Scroggie family I would like to thank Tim, and all those who supported him to help raise the money to fund this vehicle. “Lawyers are very busy and Tim has a young family so it was fantastic of him to sacrifi ce his time to train, compete and help raise funds. The Julian Burton Burns Trust survives based on people’s support and generosity.” It was not only through participation in the 2008 Burns Trust Challenge that enabled keen road runners to put their body through its paces around the gruelling 42.2km New York track. One of the Law Society’s sponsors/preferred suppliers, Antony Grzeskowiak of Gant Financial Management also conquered the New York Marathon. For Antony, the decision to take part in the marathon was made amongst a group of friends who saw the event as a fi tness challenge and the opportunity to set personal goals. He completed the course in four hours, one minute and 39 seconds. “It was a brilliant event. I can recommend it to anyone. The route, crowds, organisation, diversity and environment all made for an unforgettable experience that brings out the best in people,” Antony said. “It (participating in the marathon) seemed like a good idea at the time and fortunately it turned out to be a great idea.”
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