Fifty-mile walkers

Being a boarder in the early 60s meant that apart from long weekends you were required to stay in the Boarding House every weekend so the opportunity to take up the challenge of J.F. Kennedy (President of USA) and leave the Boarding House and walk 50 miles over the weekend was worth the challenge.

With no preparation, we were jammed into the long wheeled base school Land Rover after tea on a Saturday night in September and driven to the 50 mile post which was near Sassafras. We climbed out and started walking back to Launceston.

My special (and only) walking shoes were a pair of Dunlop Volley sand shoes.

It was tough going mentally and at about the 4am mark our group of 12 were spread out over a good distance. The lights of Westbury did not seem to be getting any closer.

Breakfast and a 1 hour rest were a big lift – I remember taking off my shoes and seeing blood around my toes. I just put them back on and slowly got walking again.

Our finishing point was Brisbane Street (with no crowds) about 2.30pm on the Sunday. We slowly climbed back into the Land Rover and headed to the Boarding House.

We went straight back to school on Monday morning.

The 1963 Old Launcestonian reports ‘The year J.F.K. said that any fit man should be able to walk 50 miles in less than 20 hours. They each started on a Saturday night, after everyone and all the equipment had been jammed into the School’s Land Rover. In went enough food to feed everyone while they were away, a cook and first-aid kit.

[On the final leg] The last 5 miles were the hardest. Most motorists were friendly, some joked with walkers, and some even gave them fruit. Three boys did not complete the walk.