One marathon is hard enough for some but try doing seven marathons in seven days. That was the task in front of dozens of athletes who descended on Queensland in July for the Bravehearts 777 Marathon with Mount Isa one of the venues.Bravehearts' 777 Marathon challenge, which seeks to raise awareness and funds for Bravehearts, a charity for the prevention of child sexual abuse and exploitation. The Isa marathon took place at Lake Moondarra along the bike track with locals invited to join national runners in distances of 7km or 14km or 21km or 42km.
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There was a local winner in the Boulia Camel Races which offered a record $45,000 prize pool this year. A record number of travellers made the trek to Boulia to witness "the Melbourne Cup of Camel Races" with the local population exploding tenfold, from 300 residents to around 3000. Australia's richest camel races came in with a hometown win, with local camel 'Gunna' lumbering over the finish line to take out the Thirsty Camel Cup for Boulia camel trainer, Roman Czubak to the cheers of record crowds.
The Townsville Blackhawks got the win in their Country Week clash against the South Logan Magpies. The Blackhawks travelled 500km down the Flinders Hwy to Richmond for the game and came home with the points, with a 28-18 victory in front of a good crowd.
The Birdsville Races were postponed from September to next April creating a historic two race meeting in 2022. Organisers said that given the ongoing uncertainty and new outbreaks associated with the highly transmissible COVID Delta variant, they have made the difficult decision to postpone the event to Sunday and Monday April 10-11 (the weekend before Easter). The 2021 Birdsville Races were scheduled to run on September 3-4.
The Town Lions have tasted Mount Isa Rugby League success for the fourth time in five years while Wanderers have won the ladies equivalent. In the men's game the Townies side came roaring back after last year's grand final loss, beating Wanderers 26-20 in the final. Wanderers beat Wranglers 18-10 in the ladies final.
Mount Isa Mines Rodeo saved the best till last, with the final ride of a big weekend saw the open bull ride buckle head to Upper Horton, NSW, home of cowboy Troy Wilkinson who led after Saturday's round with a stunning 87.50 point ride. But the pressure was on in the final round after Josh Jones from Kingaroy scored an excellent total of 235.5 points. It seemed as if Jones had the buckle in the bag until Wilkinson came out last and smashed his ride to claim another 83.5 points and a grand total of 252 points to win his first Mount Isa buckle.
Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
