Walking for a cause can help you stay motivated and increase the reward of cracking 1200km in 12 months. Here are four ways to walk 1200km with a purpose.

Trapline Tramping

Join a predator control group and walk the line to help New Zealand become predator-free. Many tramping clubs and community groups maintain trap lines on conservation land and need volunteers to regularly walk the lines of traps to clean and reset them. It can involve some rugged, off-track tramping, but will also offer a great motivation – and real reward – for meeting your weekly walking goals.

Fundraise for a cause

Choose a cause, start a Givealittle page and ask people to contribute for every walking milestone you meet. Kiwi walkers have raised tens of thousands of dollars for many excellent causes around the country, from cancer research to funding for mental health services. Again, this is an excellent way to stay motivated and focused through those 12 months, and it will be much more rewarding when you walk down those final k’s if you have a chunky donation to give to a good cause at the end of it.

The car-free commute

If you walk to work each day, or shorten your commute by parking 1650m from the office (or get off the bus a stop earlier), you’ll tick off those kilometres in no time and help save the planet, and your wallet. Over the week you’d have reduced your car mileage by 16km – that’s an impressive 832km over the year. For the average vehicle, that’s a petrol saving of about 63 litres and about $141 a year, reducing your carbon emissions by about 145kg of CO2.

Tidy Kiwi tramping

Take a rubbish bag and pick up rubbish, say four pieces of rubbish for every kilometre walked, and watch as your neighbourhood and favourite walking spots become pristine. That little effort every day will soon add up. On reaching your target you’ll also be able to celebrate having removed 4800 pieces of rubbish from our tracks and streets.