The Canberra Raiders have set some unwanted benchmarks this year, but they fell short of rewriting the history books for the right reasons in an attempt to break the three-legged race world record.
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Looking to eclipse the record of 649, the Raiders fell short with 543 pairs tallied at Northbourne Oval on Tuesday.
However it was still enough to break the previous Australian and southern hemisphere record, and also symbolised the community coming together to highlight indigenous issues.
The NRL’s Close The Gap round will be held this weekend, with Canberra to wear indigenous jerseys when it hosts St George Illawarra on Saturday.
The Raiders squad and Australian Defence Force Academy personnel teamed up with local schoolchildren for the record attempt.
Those standing on the sideline were coaxed in but it still wasn’t enough to break the 649 pairs necessary.
Torres Strait Islander player Edrick Lee said “we were a bit unlucky not to get the record, but the good thing is just to see the indigenous community, and the community in general, come together and support a good cause. “
Despite warnings of safety, some Raiders players took a rare opportunity to be in front and, attached to schoolchildren, led the pack around the single-lap race.
The day was intended to highlight the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous health as part of the Close the Gap round.
Guinness World Records official Chris Sheedy said although the record was not clinched, the event was one of the most meaningful he had attended and “to get over a thousand people together in Canberra for anything is pretty incredible”.
Sheedy hoped the symbolism of what the Raiders had done, attaching indigenous and non-indigenous people together, was not lost on people.
