Anna Sophia has discovered a love for tramping at 58, and Walk1200km is helping her keep fit.

Palmerston North-based counsellor Anna Sophia was a gym-goer but turned to walking amid Covid restrictions.

That’s when the Walk1200km challenge popped up on her Facebook feed.

Tramping wasn’t part of Anna’s upbringing and didn’t always fit in with raising children, but since beginning Walk1200km in February, she’s been going great guns.

“It’s fitting in with where I’m at in my life,” says Anna, whose younger son is now 16. “I think there’s a wave of women taking up hiking in their 50s.”

She has walked 1200km in eight months and is doing five multi-day tramps this summer, including the Queen Charlotte, Kepler and Rakiura tracks.

“It’s opened up another realm of our country and even in my own district.”

Anna says the challenge can be a starting point for those wanting to get into tramping.

It pushed her to keep walking during a dreary Manawatū winter.

“When I see a lovely picture on the Walk1200km Facebook group, I think, ‘I need to keep my fitness up to go on all these walks.’”

One of her favourite haunts is the Manawatū Gorge Track.

She walks the 11km track regularly and finds it a good way to gauge her fitness and test out tramping gear.