mmg.com.au

Former Deniliquin man and now Kew Recreation Centre’s health and wellness director Jerram ‘Jezza’ Newton has taken on the mighty Murray River in the VicSuper Murray Marathon, and succeeded.

Jerram and five mates formed a relay team to paddle for three days of the five-day marathon.

The paddle event, the longest in the Southern Hemisphere at 404km, started in Yarrawonga on December 27 and finished at Swan Hill yesterday.

Jerram and his crew joined the race in Tocumwal on Friday and paddled 235km to Torrumbarry.

With two men in the kayak at a time, Newton estimates he did about 100km all up during the rotations.

The Murray Marathon is a fundraiser for the YMCA and all funds raised are invested back into Murray River region communities through grants to address disadvantage.

This was Newton’s first attempt at the event.

He decided to enter with a few mates because it would be a ‘‘good opportunity to get together with friends, have some fun and raise some money for a good cause in the process’’.

‘‘I work for the ‘Y’ and I made a call to a mate at another centre and suggested we enter,’’ he said.

‘‘That was only a few months ago, and then we didn’t talk about it for another six weeks. He then rang me and said ‘we’re registered’.

‘‘Only two out of the six of us had done a little paddling before.’’

Growing up in Deniliquin, Jerram said he inherited his passion for fitness and the outdoors from his father - former Deniliquin man Rob Newton.

‘‘Dad was always fit and used to kayak a bit,” Jerram, who now lives in Caulfield, said.

‘‘I used to paddle when I was younger, but I had been out of the boat for 10 years.’’

Newton said participating in the race was an experience, one which has left him and his teammates exhausted.

‘‘It was pretty strenuous, but really good,’’ he said.

‘‘It was different to what we were expecting.

‘‘We got through it, but now I’m aching all over,’’ he said yesterday.

The friends’ good natured approach to the event was balanced with a definite competitive streak.

“There was a bit of banter flying around between us,’’ he said.

Jerram admitted that fellow employees at the Kew Recreation Centre had been giving him a ribbing about not having trained in a boat before the race.

Jerram has worked at the Kew Recreation Centre for more than six years and is hoping to raise $1000 for the event.

When the Pastoral Times went to print yesterday, he had raised $926.20.

For more information about the 2012 VicSuper Murray Marathon go to www.murraymarathon.ymca.org.au/. To donate to Jerram’s team, visit www.everydayhero.com.au/jerram—newton—5.