New record set at Oxfam Trailwalker Canada

Three members of Team Trendelenburnz found a surprise surge of energy to run across the finish line at Oxfam Trailwalker Canada 2010, finishing the 100 km hike at 3.25 a.m. for a time of 18 hours and 25 mins. 

The team’s finishing time was such a surprise that the final checkpoint was still in the process of being set up.

“We started yelling to put up the ribbon,” laughed Alex Nataros, the team’s captain and the past youth member of Oxfam Canada’s board.

Julian Mackenzie-Feder and Phil Thacker collapsed in the grass shortly after receiving their medals and gingerly peeled off shoes and socks.

The three friends, all living in Montreal, were joined later by their teammate Corey Pedneault, who was forced out of the event around the 50 km mark by exhaustion and dehydration.

“This is for him!” Julian said of the team's victory.

The first full team of four, Team Endure, walked across the finish line just after 4 a.m., completing the 100-km hike in 19 hours and 27 minutes, setting a new record for Oxfam Trailwalker Canada.

The team, made up of Craig Howie, David Howie, Paula Groenendyk and Ian Bremner, ran virtually the entire course. They were greeted by family and friends, thrilled at the news that they’d set a new record.

The cheers of volunteers lining the checkpoints kept Team Trendelenburnz going. “No one’s cheered for me like that before,” Alex grinned. “It really gave us a lot of energy.”

 “We had a strategy and we stuck with it and it worked,” Julian said.

Their highlight? For Alex it was “the culvert” and the surreal experience of kids running through the tunnel with day-glo sticks. For Julian, it was more poetic: moments where the trail was lit by a huge, misty moon.

Trailwalker is a grueling 100-km hike that raises funds for Oxfam’s development and emergency relief work in Africa, the Americas and Asia. The event continues Saturday, and finishes Sunday at 9 a.m. The course ends at Tudhope Park in Orillia.

For more information, please contact:
Karen Palmer
Media Officer
Oxfam Canada
613-240-3047
karenp@oxfam.ca