CLUB IQ | Page 36

How far would you walk to give a complete stranger clean water to drink? For Moorebank Sports Club’s team Sporties Supports, the answer was 100 kilometres. Team Sporties Supports, comprising of CEO Tracey Lentell, HR Manager Ben McGuinness, Business Analyst Brad McAllister and Relief Customer Service Manager Peta Whiley, took on the challenge of a lifetime to make a very real and positive difference to those living in poverty around the world for Oxfam Australia on 19 and 20 August 2016. One person in three in the world lives in poverty. Oxfam is determined to change the world by mobilising the power of people against poverty. And so was team Sporties Supports. “Clean water isn’t a gift” says CEO Tracey Lentell. “It’s a basic human right. By taking part in Oxfam IQ 34 Trailwalker we’ve helped make a real, tangible difference”. Occasionally in life, you get the opportunity to achieve something extraordinary. Months of preparation and dedication came down to one weekend. And it took all their physical, emotional and mental strength to conquer the trail. The team endured 32 hours and 36 minutes of painful joints, ligaments, no sleep and burning blisters, trekking up mountains and jogging through mud in beautiful but rugged bushland from Parsley Bay, Brooklyn to Tania Park, Balgowlah. Oxfam Trailwalker is 100 kilometres of stunning but challenging terrain: rocks, bush, trails, long flats and tough ups and downs. Its laughter and tears, exhaustion and elation. Its hugs, banter, teamwork, community and the odd blister or two. Trailwalker isn’t easy, but conquering the trail is a life changing personal challenge, and when you cross that finish line, there is nothing quite like it! “If someone were to ask me, “What’s Oxfam Trailwalker like?”, my first thought would be that it’s a start, a finish and something incredibly empowering, inspiring, challenging and emotional in between”, says Ms Lentell. “Completing Oxfam Trailwalker has for me confirmed that anything is possible with a strong will”. The event commenced with almost 500 teams of four setting off for the endurance test. Aside from