Going Bushwalking This Weekend - 96km!
So I signed up again to do the Kokoda Challenge, you'd think I'd have learned my lesson after last year, when our team finished in just under 28 hours, and I could barely walk for two days afterwards. We start at 7am this Saturday, and we're hoping to go closer to 25 hours this time.
The event is a 96km (60 mile) walk through the Gold Coast (QLD Aus) hinterland, and raises funds for youth programs, to help young folk reach their potential. Some of the young folk have gone off the rails, and some have great potential but their circumstances are such that they can't take advantage of it. The program teaches them leadership skills, gets them involved in community service and concludes with the young people going to Papua New Guinea to walk the real Kokoda Track where so many Aussie soldiers did it so hard in World War Two, and so many still lie in war cemeteries over there. It really is life changing for them.
This is a fantastic event, but has several challenges. One is the distance, and another is the terrain. There is very little of this course that's flat. Fellow Queenslanders would be perhaps familiar with Springbrook National Park, Mount Tamborine and the other hills down that way. The uphills are unrelenting - one hill took us nearly 45 minutes of climbing last year. Once you're up, the downhills then trash your quad muscles. When it gets dark, you put on warm clothes and a headlight and keep on walking through the bush; no sleep until it's done. You get to the last 10km and you think you're home, but oh look, another huge hill to get up. That last 10k can take four hours or more, just because of the hills and the sheer fatigue. The mental challenge is as tough as the physical challenge.
They're forecasting freezing temperatures this weekend, and it won't be fun in those hills at 2am. We'll hopefully finish somewhere mid morning on Sunday. If you want to keep track of our team's progress using live feeds on Google Earth, or if you want to throw a few dollars towards the youth program, the link is here The Kokoda Challenge
Our team is no 32, Caboolture Road Runners.
I've made a pre-emptive appointment with my podiatrist for Monday
The event is a 96km (60 mile) walk through the Gold Coast (QLD Aus) hinterland, and raises funds for youth programs, to help young folk reach their potential. Some of the young folk have gone off the rails, and some have great potential but their circumstances are such that they can't take advantage of it. The program teaches them leadership skills, gets them involved in community service and concludes with the young people going to Papua New Guinea to walk the real Kokoda Track where so many Aussie soldiers did it so hard in World War Two, and so many still lie in war cemeteries over there. It really is life changing for them.
This is a fantastic event, but has several challenges. One is the distance, and another is the terrain. There is very little of this course that's flat. Fellow Queenslanders would be perhaps familiar with Springbrook National Park, Mount Tamborine and the other hills down that way. The uphills are unrelenting - one hill took us nearly 45 minutes of climbing last year. Once you're up, the downhills then trash your quad muscles. When it gets dark, you put on warm clothes and a headlight and keep on walking through the bush; no sleep until it's done. You get to the last 10km and you think you're home, but oh look, another huge hill to get up. That last 10k can take four hours or more, just because of the hills and the sheer fatigue. The mental challenge is as tough as the physical challenge.
They're forecasting freezing temperatures this weekend, and it won't be fun in those hills at 2am. We'll hopefully finish somewhere mid morning on Sunday. If you want to keep track of our team's progress using live feeds on Google Earth, or if you want to throw a few dollars towards the youth program, the link is here The Kokoda Challenge
Our team is no 32, Caboolture Road Runners.
I've made a pre-emptive appointment with my podiatrist for Monday
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