Andre Sardone is no stranger to endurance events, but his most recent attempt presented a unique challenge.
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The Bendigo roof plumber completed the 100-kilometre Oxfam Trailwalker Melbourne fundraising race last weekend with three mates, one of whom has cerebral palsy.
To ensure Matt Parker – whom his mates jokingly call Wobbles - made it to the end of the track, his friends carried a frame, designed by Mr Sardone and built by local business Sandhurst Steel Processing, to support him while he walked.
The aluminium frame was given the name Monty, after Mr Parker said he felt as if he was in a Monty Python skit while using it.
Going into the walk, the Hard in the Slush team expected it would take them the full 48 hours of the race to finish, but they crossed the line just 36 hours and three minutes after they set off at 6.30am last Friday morning.
This put them in 597th place from 690 teams.
Their achievement is made all the more remarkable by the fact Mr Parker’s mother was told when he was born that he would never be able to walk.
But Mr Sardone said that while it took a little longer than it had in previous years, the walk went fairly smoothly, which he attributed to thorough preparation and training.
To ensure Mr Parker made it across the finish line, the team also carried an all-terrain wheelchair, which was used along 25 kilometres of the track.
All team members trained for the event, some even completing marathons in preparation, but Mr Parker took an innovative approach.
On one of his last big training walks, he took a 20-kilometre walk around Burwood in Melbourne, pushing a pram with a large container of weed killer for weight and wearing a head lamp on his head – an activity that reportedly attracted some puzzled looks.
Mr Sardone has competed in six Trailwalker events over the years, and prior to that worked in the support crew for friends undertaking the walk.
He said one of the most challenging aspects of this event was dealing with all the attention the team had received.
Several other teams have donated to Hard in the Slush and left messages on their fundraising page, telling of how they drew motivation from their efforts.
As of this afternoon, Hard in the Slush had raised nearly 88 per cent of their $10,000 goal.
The men have been friends for nearly three decades, meeting as volunteers at Lord Somers Camp and Power House in Melbourne.
The Trailwalker track took them from Jells Park in Wheelers Hill to Wesburn Park in the Yarra Valley.
The Oxfam Trailwalker Melbourne event aims to raise $2.5 million this year, and funds raised were at $2.4 million this afternoon.
The event began as a training exercise for the Queen’s Gurkha Signals Regiment in Hong Kong and is now undertaken around the world.
Each four-person team must commit to a fundraising target for Oxfam.
Oxfam is a not-for-profit organisation addressing poverty and injustice around the world.
According to the organisation, one in three people in the world lives in poverty, and each night nearly one billion people will go to bed hungry.
Oxfam funds long-term projects in such areas as sanitation, water, education and health, provides emergency relief in times of natural disaster, conflict and outbreak of disease, and campaigns for change that will bring about positive outcomes.
For more information or to donate, visit the Trailwalker website.
