Lilydale resident Aaron Leonard marched from the sea to the summit of Mt Donna Buang on the weekend.
By Monique Ebrington
LILYDALE resident Aaron Leonard has undertaken a gruelling walk from the mouth of the Yarra River in Melbourne to the summit of Mt Donna Buang near Warburton.
His Sea to Summit trek took him eight hours each day to complete and was aimed entirely at raising money for families that had been severely affected by the Samoan tsunami.
His wife Flora and parents Eddie and Cheryl also took part in the walking event, completing 20km each day.
Aaron, a seasoned cross-country runner, said it was important to the family to help those directly affected by the recent tsunami.
“Every six months after my wife and I are involved in a charity event,” he said.
“I started doing charity events because my sister’s son had leukemia and I did it for a charity that helped her out.
“My wife is Samoan and the tsunami directly affected some of her family members so we decided to raise money for the families and communities in need.”
While it wasn’t the longest distance Aaron had completed he said it was one of the toughest, with temperatures reaching 38 degrees last Friday.
“I’ve done quite a few of these events but I’ve never run in 38 degree heat and that really did knock the wind out of my sails,” he said.
“It was a gruelling temperature, so I just took it slow on the Friday, but absolutely worth going through it for the cause.”
Aaron said with the support of sponsors and local schools and businesses they hoped to have raised around $4,000.
Anyone wanting to add to the Sea to Summit tally can email the Leonard family at floral@talkdownunder.com.
