Walker
Home » Magazine » Good, issue 5 » WalkerLesley Reece, Oxfam Trailwalker and marathon runner
Photograph by Chris Skelton
How far would you walk to give a stranger clean water to drink? 100 kilometres? How about 400? That’s just a fraction of the distance veteran walker Lesley Reece will have tramped when she crosses the Oxfam Trailwalker finish line this April.
Oxfam Trailwalker is an annual fundraiser that sees up to 350 teams of four head to Taupo to run or walk 100 kilometres—that’s two-and-a-half marathons—through bush and volcanic terrain, across farmland and over about 80 gates. The aim is to finish in less than 36 hours.
Money raised from the 2009 challenge will fund Oxfam New Zealand’s ongoing work in Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Samoa and South East Asia. Current projects include piping clean drinking water to remote villages, supplying mosquito nets to prevent the spread of insect-borne diseases, safe water and sanitation education, putting toilets in schools, and the development of small local businesses.
What began in 1981 as a military exercise for the Gurkha regiment in Hong Kong has spread to the UK, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, raising more than $70 million globally.
And what started for Lesley in 2006 as a one-off challenge has somehow become an annual event for her and her friends Margaret, Jan and Kerry. Their team, The City Girls, range in age from late 40s through to early 60s. Last year they crossed the line in 24 hours and 59 minutes to win the fastest veteran women’s team award. Their motto: “Pain is temporary, pride is forever.”
The City Girls have raised over $12,000 since 2006, and hope to raise another $4,000 this year.
“The Oxfam Trailwalker challenge is far harder than running a marathon,” says Leslie, who has run 48 of them. “You look at Mount Tauhara and think, I have to go through that? What’s going to be out there?
“The first year the glow sticks marking the track all burned out too soon, so we were making our way in the dark looking for burnt-out sticks. Once my shoe fell to bits and had to be strapped together with medical tape. Another time I fell asleep for a split second and came to slumped against a tree. But its lovely walking in the bush at night when it’s quiet and you can see the lights of the other walkers twinkling ahead.
“Trailwalker is all about pulling together as a team—sticking together, being tolerant of each other. We’re great friends as a result. And it’s hugely rewarding to support Oxfam’s amazing work.”
Leslie would love to complete one of the international trailwalks, suggesting perhaps Hong Kong for her 70th birthday. That’s seven years, a potential 700 Trailwalker kilometres and countless training hours away—but we’ve no doubt she’d get there, one step at a time.
Good walkers
Three teams of Good walkers completed the 2009 event. To donate, go to the Good Walkers #2 and Good Walkers #3 team pages (congratulations to Good Walkers #1 for reaching its fundraising target!). For more on the work of Oxfam New Zealand go to www.oxfam.org.nz
