Local legends run Queen’s Baton Relay with pride | PHOTOS

The precious cargo made its way through the hands of 29 people on the day, including those of Samantha Howcroft from Mollymook, Julie Sydenham from Milton, Ulladulla’s Zarley Oakmand and Margaret Sheedy and Cockwhy’s Roger Mayer. 

At times, baton bearers danced to the music, stopped for selfies and took time to high five people lining the streets. 

Zarley started the relay at Batemans Bay Primary school shortly after 9.30am, before it made its way to the banks of the Clyde River and into the hands of Ruby Rose McMath, who took it onto a Sailability boat. 

The relay resumed on land in front of a crowd of people, who cheered as the baton made its way through Batemans Bay.

Larger than life character Mrs Sheedy took hold of the baton on Beach Road with a beaming smile and a large support cohort nearby. 

She passed it to Merle Morton before the precious cargo was handed to Mrs Sydenham. 

“It was an amazing experience. I enjoyed the whole thing but it went so quick,” Mrs Sydenham said. 

“I just want to say thank you to all the people from Milton-Ulladulla who came down here to support us in the relay.”

It wasn’t long before local identity Ms Howcroft took charge of the Queen’s Baton for 200 metres while being cheered on by her family. 

“It was an absolute honour to be there and to be representing our local town,” she said. 

“I will remember this day forever, it is super special.”

Ms Howcroft said the 2.5 kilogram baton became heavy after holding it in the air for the duration of her run. 

“It became heavy overtime but it has an amazing story behind it,” she said. 

Before long it was Mr Mayer’s turn. The Australian Police Medal holder was all smiles as he took part in the relay, taking time to high five high school students along the way. 

“It was exhilarating; It made my heart pound. I will have to watch a replay because I can’t remember what happened, it was a bit of a blur,” he said. 

“It was a special moment to hold the baton. I tried to do the Baywatch run, but I wasn’t too good at that with a bad knee.”

Mr Mahey was nominated to take part in the relay for his police work. He spent time working in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory before moving to the NSW Police Force and joining the dog unit. 

“I helped with the PCYC in western Sydney and had 32 years in the NSW Police Force, 25 of them with the dog unit,” he said. 

"I was awarded the Australian Police Medal in the 2012 Queen’s Birthday Honours.” 

Three years ago Mr Mahey retired to the South Coast, where he enjoys spending time at the beach and helping the Yuukan Judo Club.

The Queen’s Baton then made its way into Corrigans Beach reserve to a community celebration before Commonwealth Games medalist Andrei Kravtsov walked the baton onto a South Coast Seaplane, which flew it out of the region. 

The baton will now make its way to Tasmania, before eventually being ran into the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games on April 4. 

The 29 baton bearers who ran through Batemans Bay are part of 3800 people worldwide who were given the honour of taking part in the relay.