Experienced pair just keep on walking

Jan Bullot and Kerry Farrant swear they are not competitive but when it comes to defending their Oxfam Trailwalker record that all changes.

Despite announcing their retirement two years ago, the South Waikato friends, along with Auckland based Lesley Reece and Margaret Kennedy, are set to take part in their 12th Oxfam Trailwalker as the City Girls from March 25 to 26 in Whakatane.

The walk sees teams of four tackle either a 100km or 50km course to raise funds for Oxfam’s work to fight poverty mainly in the Pacific.

The ladies have completed ten, 100km courses to date and one 50km course which was introduced last year, when the event moved from Taupo to Whakatane. This year they will tackle their second 50km.

Bullot and Farrant said they are the only group to have done it non-stop from the beginning.

‘‘We hit ten and we were retiring,’’ Farrant said. ‘‘Totally, I think we had all kind of accepted that,’’ Bullot added.

‘‘The four of us said we would still like to get together and do something one weekend though and we were going to go back and support Oxfam doing a checkpoint or as volunteers but after our tenth they changed the venue from Taupo to Whakatane. We sort of looked at each other and thought ‘‘oh a new course, how cool would that be?’’ Bullot said.

‘‘We were nearly tempted to put our hands up for one more 100km just to do the new course and then they said they had added a 50km so we were in. We say we are not competitive but I guess we are because we don’t want anyone to beat our record.’’

The ladies are currently training three times a week.

‘‘Last year we found we had to pull back which was a mental thing but now we are quite into the relaxed mode of just doing 50km,’’ Farrant said.

‘‘Pretty much anyone could do it, even the 100km, you just have to put time in on your feet because they can get very sore,’’ she said.

She said there are now no longer plans to retire anytime soon.

‘‘Something will happen I suppose, and someone won’t be able to do it anymore,’’ she said.

‘‘But being ‘‘non-competitive’’ we don’t want to be the one who stops,’’ Bullot laughed.

To donate visit oxfamtrailwalker.org.nz and search for City Girls under teams.