I’ve had an e-mail from the president of the Upper Kiewa Valley Lions Club, Bill Sutton, to let me know about the upcoming 34th annual Mount Bogong Conquestathon. The Lions Club run this event as a way to give less experienced walkers the chance to make the trip to Victoria’s highest peak (1,986 metres) in safety, with manned checkpoints and stewards along the way to look after participants.
The circuit is approximately 20 kilometres with a total ascent of 1,300 metres, so despite the relative safety of the event, it’s really only suitable for those with a healthy level of fitness. Young children are welcome to have a go, but they must be accompanied by an adult.
Though it’s not meant to be a race, many trail runners do take part. The fastest time ever recorded was by local DSE employee Andy Kromar, who completed the circuit in 1 hour and 51 minutes. Maximum respect to anyone who has a go at beating that (or even getting close to it), but I think I’ll leave that to the nutters.
I’m considering making the trip up to Mount Beauty for Conquestathon. However, it’s unlikely when you take into account that a) it’s the day after my birthday, and b) I’m currently taking part in FebFast, so by the day of my birthday I’ll be ready to stab someone for a drink (or eleven). I’d anticipate that this trip would be enough of a challenge for me, without attempting it hungover. I’ll see how I go.
So I thought I’d put it out there in hope that someone else might be interested… It’s bound to be a fun day out with some incredible alpine scenery. As with all Lions Club events, any money raised is put back into the local community. Full details (location, cost, start times, etc.) can be found on the Mount Beauty Website (page has now been removed from website).
Have you taken part in the Conquestathon in previous years? Or are you planning on taking part? Let us know by commenting below.
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I am pretty sure I did this walk with a few other table tennis players in its second year….maybe 1979? We even got badges at the end as recognition of our successful completion of the walk. 🙂
Wow, Karen! 😀 Fantastic. Were there a lot of participants that year? I imagine this kind of thing is only getting less popular, unfortunately. 🙁
Happy birthday! So don’t be such a tease – did you do the walk or not? And if so, were you hungover???
I’ve never been to this part of OZ – look forward to checking it out after the magnificence of your photo!!
Bahaha! I actually decided to forgo alcohol on my birthday (madness, I know)! The hike was brilliant and it was the perfect day for it. I’ll be posting about it as soon as I get time to write the darn thing. Time is something I have very little of at the moment, but I’m really hoping to make that tomorrow (if not, it will be next week).
Thanks for commenting 🙂
Much nicer to spend the night at Cleve Cole hut. Andy Komar also holds the record for the Overland Track, in under 8 hours, seriously fast.
Thanks for the tip Ken… Maybe I’ll do that one day! I’d never heard of Andy before but he must be a bit hardcore. I’ll never be a runner, that’s for sure.
Cheers
Neil