Walking the trail one last time
Raewyn Gavin thought she’d be doing the Oxfam Trailwalker for years to come but is sad this weekend will be her 10th and final one.
Trailwalker, which raises funds for Oxfam’s programmes in the Pacific, involves teams of four who sign-up to trek either 25, 50 or 100km over a 36-hour period
Oxfam announced in October that this year’s event would be its last.
It starts at Whai Tapuwae No Rongo Clifton Park at Waitara with the 100km walkers setting off at 6.30am and the 25km and 50km walkers starting at 7am.
All distances eventually finish at the TSB Stadium in New Plymouth.
Joining Gavin in her Starship Troopers team are Marion Hamer, Elizabeth Wilson, and Victoria Cuthers, a mix of doctors and nurses from Starship Children’s Hospital.
They will walk the 100km trail, as they do every time.
“We’re all very tight, there’s a really strong sense of camaraderie and friendship,” the 59-year-old said.
“We like the training as it gets us out and walking around different parts of Auckland we don’t know.”
They will travel along various routes through farmland, parks, forest, beach trails, bush, and neighbourhoods, depending on the distance.
The Starship Troopers had managed to raise $4500.
“Working at Starship we see a lot of struggles with poverty so this is such an awesome charity.”
Oxfam Fundraising director Ange Janse van Rensburg said 125 teams had registered for the trek in New Plymouth.
It was low team registrations that forced them to make the call to end the event.
“It was a really tough call to make, Covid hit us really hard and the event landscape changed.
“The rising operation costs and just not as many teams signing up it began to not be financially viable.”
So far they had raised $440,000 with the target of reaching $500,000.
She said she was feeling optimistic. “It’s bittersweet.
“I feel sad it’s ending but also incredibly excited, over the last 17 years we’ve had 20,000 people partake.
“We want to go out with a bang.”