A walk in the park
Participants in the Oxfam Trailwalker are certainly putting their feet first.
The things people will do for charity. Imagine trudging 100km up hill and down dale through the Victorian countryside for 48 hours. That's what 650 teams of four people from all walks of life will be doing on 11 April when they take part in this year's Melbourne Oxfam Trailwalker.
No doubt some brave (or mad) souls will run rather than walk the trail, in the spirit of the hardy soldiers of the Queen's Gurkha Signals who kicked off the event in Hong Kong in 1981 as a military training exercise. Today Trailwalker events are held in Hong Kong, the UK and New Zealand as well as in Melbourne and Sydney.
To participate, each team pays $520 and pledges to raise a minimum of $1000, with all funds raised going to Oxfam Australia, a leading development agency working for social justice and the alleviation of poverty. Oxfam Australia works with communities in more than 20 countries and with indigenous Australian communities. Globally, the event has raised around $60 million for worthy Oxfam projects.
Graeme Wade FCPA, a partner with Melbourne practice Garfield Wade Mayall, is part of the Going Places team.
'I kept running into colleagues and clients who had participated, and a surprising number who were doing it the year that they had to close the course [because of poor conditions],' he says. 'And they all just happened to be "the team that just missed making it through the cut-off". So the event was something I was quite aware of.
'Throw in a bit of the old peer group pressure and a good cause and I'm all signed up. I'm also naturally inclined to find something to do other than exercise, so a forced regime in preparation is great for my fitness and general health.'
Although the teams operate in fours, different teams comprising CPA Australia members, staff and friends train together.
'The team at the moment feels like a team of 20 plus, because we all train together,' Wade says.
'We're drawn from CPA Australia and its many wide and varied networks, so there are people I have worked with for years and some I've only just met, in addition to a few I've still not met but they do exist and will be at the start apparently!'
Wade says teamwork is vital to the exercise: 'You cannot depart a checkpoint without the rest of your team and it's quite difficult to have everyone walking at the same pace, so there's camaraderie in helping one another. When you walk alone you can stop and start as you wish but as a team you need to develop a rhythm together. I'm looking forward to the team factor, as I will need all the coaxing and encouragement possible to make it.
'I probably feel more apprehension about this event because its very tough from all accounts, and being on the wrong side of 40 adds an added complexity. Frankly if I get to the other end I will surprise myself, as it really is hard on your legs and feet.'
Training for the CPA Australia teams has been organised by Mark Morris and John Kenter.
'They have done a superb job of pulling it all together,' Wade says. 'I'd prefer to walk 100km in 48 hours than organise what they have organised! The big plus is there are team members that have done it before so you can get a real feel of what we are in for.'
The teams also rely on support crews stationed throughout the trail who provide sustenance and encouragement. 'I'm sure the encouragement from the support crew alone will make a real difference to our chance of making it to the finish,' says Wade. 'And they are all smart people, as they get to be involved without having to do the walk.'
In the run-up to this month's event the team has started night practice. 'We have to get used to walking in the dark,' explains Wade. 'Let's hope I'm not doing that at the 10km mark.'
To acclimatise the teams to the differing terrain the training schedule has been in different locations and times of the day. 'Personally I'm much better on the flat terrain, so I like to get hills behind me, but I am susceptible to doing too much too early and then falling in a heap. Again, that will depend on the general consensus of the team, which I'm sure, despite the best planning, will develop minute-by-minute during the walk. But one thing is we won't be jogging like some of the other freaks in the event,' says Wade.
As for what he will be thinking about while he's walking, he says: 'Probably I'll be concentrating on what excuse I can use to explain how I broke down in tears unable to go on at the 30km mark, or what I'm going to say to my wife when she says, "See I told you you were mad".'
Further information
Reference: April 2008, volume 78:03, p. 74-76
