Congratulations to winners of this year's inaugural Moonwalk event for 2010. Team The Glow, comprising members Kevin Mannix, John Gullifer & David Jennings and joined by Bryan Ackerly of team KRR crossed the line in 6 hrs 27 min's. The 3 boys from The Glow have been enthralling us with their teampage entries which started back in September. Along with detailed information about their approach to training (getting lost often), it was great to read their 'heart' for the kids in India supported by the walk. One of their earliest entries is a great example:

Team Run Amok's Kate Sanderson, winner of the 2009 Go the Extra Mile day event, crossed the line in a very respectable 7 hours 48 min's with teammate Chris Stevens. Following in 3rd place at 6:34am was team Bronlea comprising members Bronwyn Neville and Leah Thompson - clocking up a walk of 9 hrs 34 min's.

Welcome to Go the Extra Mile's Moonwalk 2010

The Moonwalk was inspired by the comments of some Go the Extra Mile 50km day walkers who thought that the "...best part of the day walk was the night walking..." And so some 12 months ago we started work on the event, working out the trail, locking venues into place and working our way through the rigours that are required to appease the various statutory authorities that manage the trails, venues and parks that we move through. Clearly, putting people onto a dark trail in the middle of the night, deep in forests is risky business! And so the safety of walkers (and our volunteers) became a big part of our risk management planning (we know now that we must also consider the Dandenong's famous black panther and swooping powerful owls).

The organisers watched the weather closely in the lead up to the event. Any outdoor event is a risky proposition given the exposure to the weather, and being perched in the outdoors, all night on the side of Mt Dandenong is a precarious place to be in bad weather. We could not help but remembering the previous Saturday's "event busting" weather - storm clouds, icy winds and flooding rains!

What a Blessing!

The skies on event day were clear, brilliantly clear! There was a palpable buzz in the air as excited walkers traded training stories while huddling together, warming themselves around heaters position around the lawns. And so with the sun dipping down over the western horizon, the day turned to night and the cityscape of Melbourne transformed into an array of glimmering lights that then became the backdrop to the start of the event.

The stars were out and the moon milky and full appeared (as if on cue), poking up and over the top of the gantry banner in the eastern sky greeting the 60 or so Moonwalkers assembled on the lawns fronting the Skyhigh Restaurant.

To see the event "come to life" this way was an answered prayer, pure and simple.The night lights of Melbourne, the wedding celebration's disco lights coming from the Skyhigh and the full moon overhead, 60 or so walkers at the ready, supporters, friends and volunteers in the wings - what a great place to be!

The formal part of the evening commenced at 8:50pm with the awarding of some very specially selected glowsticks to teams The Glow & Apollo 11 for the best team pages. A few words of caution and encouragement were delivered followed by a prayer of thanks to God and so started the final count down - the last 10 seconds to the starting time of 9pm. And we're off!

The Glow (joined by Bryan Ackerly) quickly took the lead of the field intent on securing a good time from the outset and were never really challenged as they moved through to trail. Covering 45kms on any flat terrain is difficult, but to cover 45kms in an event with ascents and descents of over 2.2kms respectively, and do it in the dark - well that's a big test of anyone's physical endurance and mental toughness (you can watch the boys progress on their own youtube video here).

As most would find out, the Moonwalk is a tough trail - much tougher than the Go the Extra Mile day 50km trail. The Moonwalk demands both a physical and mental response from walkers when they are least prepared to give it - when they would normally be sleeping! And this is one of the alluring qualities of the event - the test to see if exhaustion can be overcome and a finishing position secured.

Training and the general fitness of walkers would be central in determining whether the trail would be or could be conquered this night. Our first retirement was at Pitstop 1, followed by another 7 at Pitstop 2, and a further 4 finishing up at Pitstop 3. The sight of Mt Dandenong, so tantalisingly close, must have made retiring at Wicks Reserve a bitter/sweet decision.

Did you hug a Volley?

Walkers were greeted at various road crossings by around 20 marshals who stood out in the cold on shifts that would go through the night. These marshals greeted walkers and offered directions, encouragement in some cases snake gels!

We had over 60 volunteers working on the event manning the pitstops, serving food and beverages, directing cars, photographing and videoing the event, marking trails, massaging and medicating walkers, cleaning venues and packing up and pulling down the pitstops. We love our volunteers and they work exceptionally hard on the event - many went around the clock without sleep - some worked for 40hrs without rest. Needless to say - an event rides on the back of its volunteer workforce and the Moonwalk is no different.

It's Great to Finish

The eventual gap between the first across the finishing line to the last was in the order of some 7 hours - the last team made it across the line with 17 min's to the close of the Skyhigh breakfast (11am) - what a great incentive to finish quickly! Walkers were rewarded with a massage at the finishing line and then dined on a breakfast provided by the Skyhigh restaurant - what a night it was.

One comment from a walker goes "It was the first time any of us ... have done such a thing ... after the event, we're all kind missing it now!! ha!"

Ditto. Let's do it again next Saturday.