Canberrans of all ages took part in a walkathon to raise funds for building lay staff quarters at Marymead Children's Centre.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Staff had been using space that needed to be given to caring for the children.
The total distance of the walkathon was 20 miles, with 2200 walkers taking part.
Michael Silverstone, 15, of Hughes was the first to complete the walkathon.
Tasma Brown, 50, who worked as a waitress at Parliament House, managed to raise $560. Her sponsors included prominent names like prime minister John Gorton, Sir Wilfrid Kent and senator Jim Keeffe.
In all, the walkers raised money at a rate of $1559 per mile and would have been able to raise $31,185 in total if all the walkers had covered the full 20 miles.
The lengthy walk certainly took its toll as St John staff treated lacerated feet, twisted ankles and more than 200 cases of foot blisters.
Rick Scheeren, of Red Hill, was pushed around in a wheelchair but carried a toolkit with him to mend the wheels.
A young man suffered a possible fractured collar bone at the seven-mile mark but it did not stop him as he continued running the remaining distance with a sling.
