To complete the Walk1200km challenge, you’ve got to enjoy walking, which got us thinking: When are you happiest on your walk? Is it lacing your shoes, arriving back home or reaching a special location? What makes you happy enough to do it again the next day?

‘I love watching the sunrise’ (featured)

“This challenge is more than just trying to walk 1200km in 12 months. It’s about creating a new routine and building new habits to improve your life in so many positive ways.

“For me, getting up at 5am to go for my walk is just one of the ways I’m changing my life and it’s been such a positive experience for me so far especially when I get to watch the sunrise on the beach.”

– Lisa Podlucky

Photo: Alison Silcock

‘I love the feeling of accomplishment’

“It’s that first deep breath after putting on the shoes and headphones to listen to my walking playlist on town walks. For my longer tramps, it’s the excitement in the car of getting to the start of the track; it’s sipping on the water knowing that after drinking my two litres my pack is going to be 2kg lighter; it’s the smell of the forest, the song of the wild in the area that you’re walking, be it the water flowing or the birds singing; it’s the thrill or sometimes panic of knowing that you’re actually doing this and you are halfway and you’ve got this; and

this freeze-dried food is the best food you have ever tasted in your life; it’s the feeling of exhilaration when you get to the finish line and you realise you just accomplished something you once thought you’d never do.”

– Alison Silcock

‘I love getting into the groove’

“At about 3km in. I’m out and striding along and in the groove. Mostly.”

– Mark Feely

‘My footwear make me happy’

The moment I slip into my boots – bliss!

– Dorine Meertens

‘I love solving problems’

“About 1km or 2km in. The mind starts to wander and life’s problems start to get sorted.”

– Michael Harrison

Photo: Simon Garwood

‘I love the sounds of nature’

“When walking in the bush it’s listening to the birds and river or waterfalls – that sound of nature.”

– Simon Garwood

‘I love feeling good’

“When I get home, and I feel so much better than when I left!”

– Gael Price

Photo: Rachel Wilson

‘I love that first step out of the door’

“Sometimes it’s 4km in when I hit my stride and feel like I could go forever. Sometimes it’s when I get home and check Strava and find I went further than I thought. But the most constant happy moment is that first step out the door, when I breathe the early morning air and hear the birdsong and the world is quiet and still because everyone else is still in bed.

– Rachel Wilson

Photo: Margi Bryant

‘I love working for the views’

“I love the way hills make me work harder (and breathe better) but the reward is always the view at the top. Whether I’m walking in the city, rural, coastal or bush; I like to work for that view.”

– Margi Bryant