Volunteering At The Bloody Long Walk Brisbane 35km Walking Challenge

The Bloody Long Walk Brisbane | 35km Walking Challenge

“If you haven't any charity in your heart, You have the worst kind of heart trouble.”

Since when does a Queenslander say no to a challenge? Call it intimidating, call it crazy, and call it the “mother of all charity walks”… one thing’s for sure: at 35 kilometers long, The Bloody Long Walk certainly stands up to its name.

The Bloody Long Walk is a 35 kilometre challenge owned and operated by the Mito Foundation. Mito is a debilitating and potentially fatal genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to convert food into the energy needed to power muscles and major organs; 1 in 200 people are at risk of developing mito. One Australian child born each week suffers a severe or life-threatening form of mito making it the second most commonly diagnosed serious genetic disease after cystic fibrosis.

The start of The Bloody Long Walk was at Sandgate’s, Curlew Park. All checkpoints were stationed by local volunteers who seek to support the participants and the cause. People choose to volunteer for a variety of reasons. For some it offers the chance to give something back to the community or make a difference to the people around them. For others it provides an opportunity to develop new skills or build on existing experience and knowledge. This was Kim’s third event volunteering this year, helping out International Women’s Day Walk and the Ballina to Byron event.  Water, fruit and first aid members were available at all checkpoints to ensure the safety and well-being of all participants. Kim was stationed at Check Point 6, located at the New Farm Riverwalk. Riverview Court New Farm and the entry to The Brisbane Riverwalk, which is one of Brisbane’s absolute must do’s, a water highway for pedestrians and cyclists jutting out along the most scenic tract of Brisbane river between New Farm to the Howard St Wharves and on to the Brisbane CBD. The 870m long Riverwalk is happily segregated into dedicated roadways for cyclists and pedestrians so neither can intrude on other’s turf, with cyclists enjoying a 3.5m path and a comfortable 2.5m one for pedestrians.

The route followed the train-line from Shorncliffe to North Boondall. It then trailed parallel to the Gateway Motorway before hitting Nudgee Road, and eventually, the Kedron Brook Floodway Park.  From there, on to Nundah, Ascot and Newstead, then the route hangs tightly to the north side of the Brisbane River, before eventually crossing the Goodwill Bridge to the final stretch of pavement.

If this sounds complicated, don’t despair, we saw extensive section maps that were available to ensure individuals and teams can remain on track, and safety officials were located across the whole route to provide everyone with the best support as participants embarked on the challenging journey.

We headed early to Sandgate to take a few photos of everyone starting, jumped in the car and watched people passing the first Check Point at Nudgee and then onto her Check Point 6.

Kim’s Check Point was the most vocal, with bells and horns welcoming every walker with smiles and hugs and needed encouragement for the last 6k’s till the finish.

Kim’s put her name down for the Gold Coast event and maybe we’ll walk it next year.

Check out the video from the weekend: