Mission Accomplished! Thank you!

I am very proud and happy to announce that the entire $5260 has been raised in aid of the VSPCA!  It has only been made possible through much hard work, and more importantly through the incredibly generous donations and support that were offered by various active community members and major company sponsors!  It is very inspiring to know that there are so many people out there wanting to help those less fortunate than ourselves.   

In particular for their large donations, I would like to thank Hoppers Crossing Physiotherapy Centre, Point Cook Play and Learn Child Care Centre and Hills Pet Nutrition.  Please take the time to have a look at the fabulous services and products they offer by clicking on the link to their respective websites.

Yepoon Half Ironman Conquered... or at least Completed! 

The Half Ironman was held on Sunday, August the 17th in Yeppoon, Queensland.  Conditions were great and over 500 competitors had made the trip to take on the 1.9km swim, 90km ride and 21.1km run.  

I was excited that the day had finally come and was looking forward to testing myself over the distance (as this was my first half ironman) and seeing if I could achieve my goal of a 5 hour total time.  The swim started at 8am with waves of competitors crashing into the water and fighting for a bit of space to get their race underway.  There was a slight current assisting for most of the swim and I was happy to come out of the water in just under 30 minutes.

Onto the bike and again things felt great.  The road was very granular and made for a somewhat nervous ride with the thought of getting a flat tyre (or 3) and losing a lot of time.  Fortunately that never happened for me (although there were many less fortunate) and I was able to get into a good rhythm early and just enjoy being out there in the great weather.  Although my time was slightly slower than I would have liked, I was still on track for my goal time with a 2 hours 50 minute bike leg.

Through the second transition and after quickly slapping on some more sunscreen the run had started.  The run consisted of 3 x 7km loops through the bush.  The first lap felt great and I was still able to smile as I ran past Kristie and my family at the beginning of the second.  After just a few more kilometres the hell started!  I found myself unable to keep up the pace.  I felt physically terrible through the last 10 kilometres and finished in a total time of 5 hours 31 minutes.  Unfortunately the bad feeling continued post race and after throwing up for the rest of the afternoon I ended up in hospital that night to get some fluids into me - turns out I had some pretty bad heat stroke, probably due to the sudden shock after doing all of my training in the freezing Melbourne winter.  A couple of days later and feeling better, I have begun training for the next half ironman in Shepparton in November!

My Mission

My name is Matt Pascall, I am studying to be a vet at the University of Melbourne and a keen triathlete in my spare time.  I have always been passionate about the health and welfare of animals and feel that I am in a fortunate position to be able to do my bit towards helping those animals in need of care, whether here in Australia or elsewhere around the world. 

I have recently become aware of the amazing work done by many veterinary hospitals and organisations throughout India, despite many of them having very limited funding.  There are large numbers of stray dogs throughout India and many more belonging to people who simply can't afford the veterinary care their animals require.  The Visakha SPCA is one of the largest organisations that assist with these issues, including running an Animal Birth Control program to limit the number of stray dogs within the communities.  However, they rely largely on support and donations given to them by generous members of the public.  Please be sure to have a look at their website at http://www.visakhaspca.org/