AusLeisure

The renowned VicSuper Murray Marathon annual five day paddling challenge has been named as the recipient of the Parks and Leisure Australia (PLA) Award of Excellence for the Victoria/Tasmania Region.

The PLA Award of Excellence recognises the high standard and range of best practice and innovation for the Events Category within the industry.

Event Chair Scott Chapman explained "we're really thrilled to receive recognition for this event because it just gives so much back to participants and the local communities in the Murray Region."

Coordinated by YMCA Victoria, the Marathon is the longest canoe race in the southern hemisphere covering a distance of 404 kilometres over its five day journey from Yarrawonga to Swan Hill.

Staged between Boxing Day and New Year each year, the event attracts an average of 750 paddlers and 2,500 support crew, and is witnessed by over 200,000 people over its duration.

This long standing event continues to bring friends, families and community groups together for five days of fun and friendship as paddlers and their support crew wind their way along the mighty Murray River.

Chapman added "this is an event which goes into people's diaries year after year for many it's their annual holiday activity that they do with family and friends, so there is a real sense of community and connection with this event which is passed on from generation to generation."

The event is supported by council along the Murray River, Regional Development Victoria and major partner VicSuper, and continues to be a major fundraiser for YMCA Victoria.

YMCA Victoria is committed to investing funds raised from the event back into the Murray River region, to help maintain the region's social, environmental and economic sustainability.

This is done through the allocation of funding from the 'Take the Challenge' grants, created by YMCA Victoria to give regional communities the opportunity to identify programs and services to address a disadvantage in their local community.

Chapman concluded "we're very proud that to date we have raised over $210,000 to support many local initiatives along the Murray Region, including swimming and water safety lessons for newly arrived community members in the Albury-Wodonga and Numurkah communities, and programs for Indigenous communities in the Echuca-Moama region."

The VicSuper Murray Marathon will now go into the running for the National PLA Awards of Excellence to be announced at the Association's annual conference Newcastle between 16th and 19th September.

For more information go to www.murraymarathon.ymca.org.au

28th December 2010 - MARATHON REVIVES MURRAY TOURISM

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