Walk1200km is giving new mum Gael Price a reason to go walking every day.

Gael Price started Walk1200km in September when son Lochlan was just six weeks old.

Initially, she wasn’t sure how to fit a 45-minute walk into each day, but she found Walk1200km and parenthood go well together “because you can just walk,” says Gael, a Reserve Bank economist who is returning to work in February. “You don’t have to turn up to a class at a specific time and it doesn’t matter if you haven’t slept.”

She finds walking to be a great mood booster, and doing it has supported her recovery from a caesarean section.

Without the challenge, Gael says she would be walking less often and not as far. She has mapped out a 3.3km walk around Upper Hutt, and uses her phone to track longer walks when the weather allows. Lochlan took a few weeks to get used to his pram but now sleeps in it during their walks.

Before becoming parents, she and her husband Gregory regularly explored Tararua Forest Park. It’s something Gael misses, but Walk1200km is preparing her for a return to the wilderness.

“It’s reminding me that one day I will be back out there.”

Join Gael in walking 1200km in 12 months. Register here.