By Tyler Wright
Several mums of the hills are set to take part in the last ever Oxfam Trailwalker in March; walking more than 50 kilometres over two days for a good cause.
Kallista local Annemarie Meijerink, part of the MOTHS Mums of the Hills walking group, is set to walk 55 kilometres from March 1 to March 3 as part of Oxfam’s goal to raise funds to end poverty, joined by friends Carolynne Macnaughtan, Belinda Hartigan and Rosemary Russo.
“We all enjoy walking together frequently and we’ve recently started early this year increasing our hiking and walking to stay fit and socialise at the same time and explore the hills,” Annemarie said.
“We were talking about ‘how can we push our goals and extend our practice?’ and talking about Oxfam and a few of the girls that we’ve walked with have done it before and they were really keen.
“We found out it was going to be the last Oxfam [Trailwalker] ever, which made us even more determined.”
In September last year, Oxfam announced it would wrap up the event ever after 25 years and raising more than $100 million to help eliminate poverty.
According to the charity, around 100,000 Australians in various capital cities have tackled the ‘ultimate endurance challenge,’ which sees small teams walk 100km, 50km or 30km through some of Australia’s most picturesque landscapes to raise funds to support Oxfam’s lifesaving work, since the event launched in 1999.
Oxfam Trailwalker program manager Maddie Walsh said it has been “such an incredibly iconic” event over the last 25 years, with the cost of living impacting people’s ability to fundraise and the market for fundraising walks playing part in the decision to stop the event.
“We’re shifting all of our energy towards celebrating the final event now, and we absolutely can’t wait to share it with as many people as possible,” Maddie said.
“We have over 3000 already registered, which is incredible.
“We’re really excited that it’s gotten so much traction for the last time and we can make as big an impact as possible.”
Teams of three to six people walking 100 kilometres will start at Puffing Billy Railway’s Gembrook station, with the 55-kilometre and 33-kilometres walkers setting off from Silvan Reservoir Park.
“The trail is absolutely beautiful; It’s now in the gorgeous Dandenongs region,” Maddie said.
“It goes through Puffing Billy Railway, which is amazing.
“Everyone goes through the 1000 steps, and everyone finishes at Lysterfield Lake, which is a gorgeous scenic area as well.”
Maddie said the finish line moment is something “magical” and “emotional”.
“Seeing grown men and families walk across the finish line with tears running down their face, I get goosebumps even thinking about it,” she said.
“It’s an emotional experience and an incredible challenge and to see people cross that finish line and feel really proud of themselves for achieving something so big. ”
Annemarie and the rest of the Mums of the Hills team have organised a fundraising event at the Cameo Cinemas in Belgrave, with those hoping to attend able to purchase a ticket to the movie Wish on Sunday 21 January from 2pm to 4pm to go towards the cause.
“We decided that it’s not just about the distance, it’s also about whole training; strength training and make sure you do stretches,” she said.
“We have planned to kind of do a longer walk every couple of weeks, and then in between that once a week and a medium walk, and then also strength training and a stretch session.
“Because we all do it in different areas of the hills and we all have families and life, we don’t necessarily all do all the walks and trainings together.”
The team had raised $454 for Oxfam at the time of writing.
To view information on the hills’ mum’s journey at the Trailwalker, visit trailwalker.oxfam.org.au/t/moths-mums-of-the-hills
Tickets to the group’s fundraising event can also be purchased by searching ‘wish upon a cause’ at trybooking.com
