On a cold Canberra morning before the sun came up, Defence personnel from Russell congregated outside the gym to take on a 12-hour challenge to raise money for Soldier On.
Laid out in front of them were numerous exercise bikes that would be their chairs for the day.
The 16 teams started pedalling as wind coming off the Brindabella Ranges blasted them; each pushed to see who would go the furthest.
Having served more than 11 years, RAAF Physical Training Instructor Corporal Aaron Evans is all too aware of the sacrifices service life brings. He came up with the idea to raise funds for Soldier On with the biking event.
“I believe in the work Soldier On are doing for former members of Defence and their families,” Corporal Evans said.
“One of the teams during the challenge got a total of 393kms over the 12 hours.
“It really blew my mind. That’s a huge distance and a lot of hard work to get there considering the speed they maintained all day.”
Soldier On was established in 2012 by two mates after the death of a friend on deployment in Afghanistan.
The aim was to support Defence personnel injured physically or psychologically in the line of duty.
Initially the fundraising target was $1000 but thanks to the hard work of the Russell Offices’ physical training instructors, this was exceeded very early in the day.
The final total was more than $6500.
