For some Walk1200km participants, going for a walk is itself a challenge. Here, we learn about the nature of challenge and how some walkers achieve reward by pushing that little bit harder.

Ebony Rakatau is smiling radiantly in the photos she shares of her almost daily hīkoi with the Walk1200km Facebook group. So it’s a surprise to learn that four years ago, she was on so many  medications she couldn’t walk. “I had to have a stick to get around,” she says. “In the end, a specialist told me to come off my meds and see where the pain is. It was the best thing I could have done.” 

A friend introduced her to Walk1200km. “I wanted to do it to help me stay focused both mentally and physically,” she says. “It’s helping me get fitter; helping me with my mindset.”

One of the biggest challenges faced so far has been walking the Paekākāriki Escarpment Track. It’s steep, with ropes to help with the uphill, and there’s a spectacular bridge to cross. But Ebony struggles on exposed trails and big hills.

“When I saw the rope, I thought, ‘what on earth are you doing?’ But then I realised I had to figure out how I was going to get up the hill, because it’s doable.”

And she found it to be a “beautiful accomplishment once we’d finished”. 

Ebony refers to each walk she does as a hīkoi: “It is a journey for my life, my progress, where I go and what I do. It’s a time for me to meditate on my beliefs and really appreciate the creation around me.”

She says Walk1200km has pushed her to do longer and more difficult walks. And she finds motivation from others in the Facebook group who share their progress. “Everybody’s there for the same purpose. It’s an awesome group.”

Nathan Watson, the NZ Mountain Safety Council’s operations manager, says challenge is different for each person. 

“What’s challenging for one person may not be so for another; everyone has their own level of challenge.” 

He suggests “starting with something that’s well within your comfort zone and that you’re confident with – and then extending that challenge”.

He says challenges should be approached individually. “Don’t feel you need to measure yourself against what others may or may not be doing.” 

Nathan believes the outdoors “is a great teacher of resilience in dealing with and overcoming adversity. 

“When you’re cold and hungry and tired, and you eventually make it to the end, you look back and go, ‘I didn’t enjoy it at the time, but I’m glad I did it now!’,” he says. “Walk1200km is a fantastic opportunity for this.”

Keeping control of the challenge

It can be tricky to stay motivated during a long-term goal like Walk1200km, especially if you feel you are lagging behind and not reaching weekly or monthly distance targets. 

Richard Beddie, CEO of Exercise NZ, says participants will do better if they ignore the end objective and focus instead on the process. “It might sound bizarre,” he says, “because isn’t the whole purpose to walk 1200km? Actually, it’s not.” 

He says realisations within the goal are more important: “It’s not so much about how far I walked today, but that I did walk today.  So my process becomes, ‘I will walk five times a week’, rather  than ‘I will walk 5km every day’.” 

This is referred to as being process-oriented and one of the beauties of that is agency, says Richard. “The great thing about the Walk1200km challenge is that you get to control it: you get to determine how you’re going to do it.”

And remember, with Walk1200km, you never really fall behind. All walking is good for you and although everyone would love to reach 1200km, any distance is better than no distance.