RAIN held off and the sun mostly shone for the 2008 Prom Country Challenge [PCC] last Sunday.

Numbers were down a little in both entries and onlookers, with the Olympic Games and the after-effects of the party celebrating Toora Football Club’s last games for the season both being cheerfully blamed as causes for lack of entrants and spectators!

Bouts of the ‘flu and injury problems were also reported by would-be competitors who either came along to watch but not to participate, or else chose the six-kilometre run instead of the 30-kilometre race. Nonetheless the atmosphere was festive and competitive, especially among the numerous youngsters who chased each other up and down Toora’s Stanley Street to vent their excess excitement in the wake of the Mt Best Challenge start and a 30-minute wait until their own events.

Australian duathlon champion and former Mirboo North resident Nadelle Legge officially started the 30-plus competitors off on the Mt Best climb with honks on an air horn at the corner of Stanley and Gray Streets in Toora. Ms Legge also provided excellent commentary as the Mt Best Challenge runners made their final burst of effort down Stanley Street to the finish line.

With a pack of youngsters vying for position at the front of the pack, Mark Lindsay of GippsSport gave the signal half-an-hour later for the start of the six-kilometre event, backed up by siren whoops from a Toora Fire Brigade truck. Despite the departure of the race participants, the shopping street continued to bustle with activity.

Toora Returned and Service Leagues Club members cooked and served at two barbecues, the tables at the Windmill Café were full and the Parents Club from Toora Primary School handed out oranges and other fruit donated by Aherns Fruit Market to competitors on their return.

Folk music played by Southern Collection could be heard drifting down the street, where many shops were especially open for business.

Throughout the day, people made their way in and out of Toora Hall, where Hall Committee members served sandwiches, cakes, hot drinks and soup from their new kitchenette/bar facility on the hall landing. 
Upstairs in the hall, four masseurs organised by Jenny Fenwick were kept busy voluntarily soothing the runners’ tired muscles, the hall committee had books and bric-a-brac for sale, Toora Lions Club sold collectables items and South Gippsland Hospital Health Promotions Officer Sue Evans encouraged various aspects of healthy living. Down at Sagasser Park, children flew kites, men played bocce and the Foster Police Blue Light Disco juke box played music as part of the alternative activities associated with the PCC.

Using water supplied by South Gippsland Water, drinks tables run by Foster Rotary, Bennison Adult Riding Club, Mt Best Hall Committee and Toora Primary School kept runners hydrated around the courses, with balloons, streamers and even stray chooks providing additional ‘bling’.

Members from South Gippsland Group Fire Brigades, organised by Toora Captain Ray Argento, cautioned traffic, guided runners in key locations and provided radio contact, while Toora policeman Mal Heywood supervised crossing over the South Gippsland Highway.

Members of Toora Netball Club were cheerfully busy as they noted the times of each competitor at the finish line, though acknowledged things got a bit hectic at the peak period.

The six-kilometre runners and walkers were all back before the last of the Mt Best challengers, with lots of clapping and encouragement calling to help hurry the final few in to the finish some 30 minutes before the course was due to close officially.

On behalf of the PCC committee, Cheryl Glowrey thanked the numerous sponsors and volunteers whose contributions helped make the event successful. Their support included financial donations, lead cars and ‘sag wagons’ for the events, work at the registration tables, manning the drinks stalls and providing prizes such as the medals and dinner vouchers for the local resident awards. 
Comments made by runners either as first-time entrants or as reasons for returning each year included:

• Appreciation of the children who came up to enthusiastically congratulate them as they finished.
• The quality of the Mt Best course.
• The timing of the event as a means for training for the Melbourne Marathon.
• Gratitude for the quick access to free massage.
• Exclamations about the beauty of the scenery; and
• Admiration of the warmth and involvement of the community