Open day for Lavarack Barracks Get a look at life in army
Rachel Riley
LAVARACK Barracks will throw open its gates to the Townsville community for just the third time in 20 years for a public open day in September.
The 2017 Lavarack Barracks Open Day and Trail Run is the second annual event of its kind and acts as a major fundraiser for Townsville Legacy as well as a Defence recruitment drive.
This year’s event will be held on September 2 and will include military displays from the 5th Aviation Regiment, 3rd Brigade and supporting units, as well as vehicle rides, amusements, food and entertainment.
The major event of the day will be the trail run, which gives members of the public access to normally restricted areas of the Mount Stuart Training Area.
Categories include the 21.2km race, 10km run and also the 5km short course, with the obstacle course also opened to the public.
The trail runs will succeed the Pozieres Challenge, which army units will participate in as part of the Commanders Trophy, where the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, currently leads the competition after shooting.
On Tuesday, units took part in the cross- country event, with the first 20 runners across the line receiving points towards the competition.
Major Mick Gallergos said planning for this year’s event began in February and he promised this one would be bigger and better.
“We get to showcase what we do and how professional our soldiers are,” he said.
“A lot of our soldiers families don’t know what their loved ones do day- to- day because our soldiers tend to be shy so this a day for them as well.”
Maj Gallergos said due to 3rd Brigade’s training and deployment commitments they couldn’t always assist with community events, which made the open day more important.
“This is the day where we can say to the people of Townsville, come out to Lavarack Barracks, support a good cause for Legacy, and everything that you want to see to do with an army experience you can see,” he said.
Officer- in- charge of the open day Lieutenant Colonel Dave Stanley said last year the event raised $ 60,000 for Legacy, so the aim was to now go beyond that.
“There will be lots for people do – you’ll be able to shoot and go for rides,” he said. “The event exposes to Townsville what we have here.
“We take great pride in what we do and we really want people to be able to touch and feel what we do and really put a human face to the uniform.”
To register for the trail run got to https:// www. trybooking. com/ book/ event? eid= 281301.
It will be a gold coin donation to enter to enter the open day, with all funds donated to Townsville Legacy.
Trail runs begin from 6.30am but general gates will open at 8am.