Keep On Walking

Well, we did it: 100 km in 24 hours and 40 minutes. 

True to our team name, we kept on walking; up many, many stairs, through mist and fog, through the early morning hours and finally, across the finish line at 8:40 Sunday morning to a wonderful welcome of encouraging 'WooHoos!". 

Thanks so much to the crew and staff of the Wilderness Society and all their sponsors. It was such a well organized event and everyone was so encouraging and thoughtful. 

And thank you SO MUCH to all our sponsors; we are continuing to raise money to secure wilderness areas. Your continued donations make this possible. I believe donations are still being accepted until mid-May. 

Personally speaking, it was an amazing event and I learned so much about myself and my abilities. Some team comments were; "It was a wonderful achievement for us" and 'Had the best weekend; It has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life!" and  "..great weekend and outstanding achievement.". 

Until next year, KEEP ON WALKING!

Jennifer 

I haven't posted in the last few weeks. It is on my list of things to do that grows longer and longer. The good news is that, even though I haven't posted anything, the team HAS been walking. 

Walks over the last 3 or 4 weekends have varied between team members. Some of us have redone the Spit to Manly, others have done walks from home and a few of us embarked on an epic walk from Mt Kuringai to Cowan along part of the Great North Walk. The scenery was amazing (see pic) but the terrain was brutal; it was more climbing than walking. 15 kms took us 5 hours!! We were planning on walking back on the same route but it was too demoralizing a thought so we devised an alternative plan which involved taking the train to Berowa and then walking along the inlet until we found the car again at Mt Kuringai; Thank God for the iPhone GPS system! It was a character building walk but I won't be doing it again anytime real soon. Although one of our team members did it again the next week just to prove she could!

Then this Saturday was our last big training session was along one of my most frequented and loved trails; Spit Bridge to Manly (return); A couple of the team did the morning and one of us did the night.  Everyone came off the trail feeling confident and ready to race. This season I set myself the (quiet) goal of doing the 9.55 km walk in 1 hour 45 minutes. And Saturday night, in the dark and in the rain, we did it! The first leg took us 1 hour 47 minutes but on the way back, we did it in 1 hour 45 minutes and 56 seconds!! AMAZING!

I am nervous but also confident about the race. Please keep those donations flowing in to help us meet our targets and donate to the Wilderness Society. I expect the night walking section of the race to be SO quiet. I think it is important to keep some wilderness in the world that is still THAT quiet and donating to the  Wilderness Society can help with that. 

I will post again after the race. Until then, KEEP ON WALKING!!

Jen 

This Saturday we managed to get the entire team together for a training walk in the Blue Mountains. We had decided beforehand on Leg 4 of the race (from Wentworth Fall Picnic Area to Katoomba Oval) and back. We knew we were in for a big day but were confident. 

The day started all well with three carloads of people all arriving within 10 minutes of each other. We were on the trail at 6:57 am. We had all our supplies, food, a typo map, a compass, two sets of course maps and directions, two navigators and multiple iPhones with various applications and we STILL managed to get lost twice in the first two hours! And the stairs! Bloody stairs upon stairs upon stairs! Over the past year, I have now walked some variation of all the legs of the Wild Endurance course and I can honestly say this trail is HARD! Thankfully, it was a PERFECT autumn day in the mountains. It was clear and hot but the trail provided lots of shady, cool protection with that sweet, menthol smell that only the Australian bush has. We still managed to arrive at the half way point by 11 am, ate lunch and began our return journey at 11:30 am. 

While the direction of the stairs seemed to favour us more on the return journey, circumstances didn't and one of our team members twisted one, then two, ankles! But, being the trooper she is, she walked all the way out and didn't grumble at all.

The stats for the day varied depending on what method you adopt; The course notes said 33.80 kms, one iPhone application (based on GPS that occasionally dropped out) recorded 29.24 kms in 7 hours 56 minutes and yet another iPhone application recorded 35.70 kms in 7 hours 41 minutes. Hey, I know which one I believe!

We hit the trifecta for Saturday; everyone got on well, the weather was beautiful and we walked well.  And we still have 6 weeks to train and improve. Great work everyone!

What an amazing walk!! We started from Juliette's apartment in Rushcutters Bay and walked along the coast (with amazing city views) past Double Bay, Rose Bay, Vauclause and finally, Watson's Bay. We walked through national parks and through suburban streets and each one was better than the last. 

My high point, however was the amazing views along the return path which hugged the coastline from Gap Bluff to Dover Heights. Truly magnificent! It was one of the most enjoyable walks yet. 

And we made our best time yet: 21.2 kms in 4 hrs 4 mins. Next weekend, we head to the Blue Mountain and train on the actual course. Wish us luck!!

With weather reports of heavy rain & thunderstorms, we decided to risk it and meet at the Spit Bridge at 7:30. Amazinginly, the weather held and we only received a few drops of rain for the entire walk. We made it to Forty Baskets beach and back in just under 3 hours. It was a wonderful first walk and a good starting pace of 15 minutes per km.

It was wonderful getting to know everyone, chatting and discussing the finer points of the race. I love this walk; it has everything; steps, flats, bush, beach and views galore.   

Jessica had fun riding in her backpack and Shane did a great job of being her sherpa. Our secret weapon was a chuppa chup lollipop that kept her quiet most of the return walk. 

We are taking part in the 2010 WildEndurance event and will be completing a 100km trek through the Blue Mountains to raise funds for the The Wilderness Society.

The Wilderness Society (TWS) is a national, community-based, environmental advocacy organisation whose purpose is to protect, promote and restore wilderness and natural processes across Australia for the survival and ongoing evolution of life on Earth.

Please DONATE by clicking on the button to the right and help The Wilderness Society continue their work to protect the wildnerness for all of us and  future generations.