NSCnews Online June 2017 | Page 10

OPEN DAY Lavarack Barracks and Poziere’s Endurance Challenge THEY’RE OFF… the start of the popular trail runs and (right), an M1A1 Abrams Tank demonstrates its ability at last year’s event T HE 2017 iteration of the Poziere’s Challenge - the 3rd Brigade’s major fundraising eff ort for the year and one of the eight Commander’s Trophy events - will be tweaked only slightly, after the experience gained during last year’s event. The only real change will be the introduction of a 10km event for people who want to participate, but are not up to the super level of fi tness required for the hilly and demanding 21km challenge. There would also be a 5km event which is expected to be favoured by families with children wanting to participate. The trail runs, which proved enormously popular last year, would again be conducted in conjunction with a Lavarack Barracks Open Day centred on the CSIRO Flats. OIC of the Open Day and the Poziere’s Challenge LTCOL Dave Stanley said it was the Brigade’s major fundraising activity for the year and he hoped to surpass the $60,000 raised for the Townsville Legacy Club last year. That fi gure was achieved through trail-run registrations, gold-coin donations on entry to the Open Day and sponsorship. LTCOL Stanley said RSL Queensland had again generously provided seed sponsorship for the event which was offi cially called the RSL Lavarack Barracks Open Day and Trail Run and other sponsors had just been approached. He said potential sponsors could contact 10 | JUNE 2017 him directly on 0407 523 954. LTCOL Stanley said even after preliminary planning, it was clear from the schedule, there would be something happening at every minute throughout the day. He said each Army unit in the Brigade as well as supporting units in the North would mount a display under canvas including demonstrations. There are opportunities for the public to ride in some of the military vehicles used in the Brigade and lucky person will get the chance to ride in an M1A1 Abrams tank as the crew crushes a car by driving over it. Three car crushes are planned through the day - at 9am, 11am and 3pm. The inter-unit tug of war competition also promises to be a hit with spectators. Starting from 9am, heats will be conducted throughout the day with the fi nal contest starting at 2.30pm. The Open Day will begin at 8.30am but it will have been