The expert opinion is in: Walk1200km is a worthy challenge – the benefits begin the moment you lace up your shoes.

Committing to a challenge can be daunting. The thought of slogging for weeks or months before being able to enjoy the benefits of the effort can often put a Stop sign before the start. Yet the positive effects of walking are immediate, according to Justin Richards who is academic lead at Sport NZ (Ihi Aotearoa) and associate professor in physical activity and wellbeing at Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka. 

“Walking reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease,” he says. “It reduces our risk of metabolic disease. And it improves our bone health and our muscle strength. Long term it reduces our risk of cancer, particularly breast and bowel cancer. For many people, walking is the most accessible form of being physically active.”

There can be a big bump at the start, says Richards. “Getting out there and walking around the block to start with can have a profound effect. In fact, the biggest impact comes when we change from doing nothing to doing just a little bit. People sometimes get turned off by hearing they have to do x-amount a day to have an impact. Actually, if you’re doing very little, you can have a massive impact on your health just by doing five minutes to start with and then building on that. Huge, huge changes can occur.” 

A bundle of research has shown that walking is also beneficial for psychological or mental health. Partly this comes from connecting with the natural environment, but it also comes from connecting with people and making that commitment. Richards refers to this as a social contract and says participants may be more likely to succeed in Walk1200km when they do it with someone else, join the Facebook group, or share their plans. “You make this commitment that you’re going to do it and you have this social contract with each other. Just having someone who cares about you, who you check in with regularly and who’ll ask you about it. Even better is if you agree to meet once a week to do one of your walks. Those discussions that occur have a huge impact on people’s motivation to keep going.”

The key for mental health benefits is enjoyment. Richards says this will be different for everyone. “Some people might use this as a time to be alone. It might be a time to be social with others. It might be when you interact with the natural environment, where you can see the sea or the bush, or you can watch people in town.”

But in the end, he says, “Whether or not Walk1200km has as a big effect on your mental wellbeing and your physical wellbeing, and whether at the end of this challenge you keep walking and build this into your everyday life – the key thing is that this is a fantastic challenge.”