A new study has been published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine recognising the health benefits of a daily walk.

The study analysed health data for more than 30 million people, looking for correlations between how much people move and how long and well they live. The conclusion: walking for at least 11 minutes every day could lower your risk of premature death by almost 25 per cent.

The walk1200km challenge is designed to get you out walking for 35-45 minutes each day. It’s helping people build a habit out of daily exercise. It’s one of the most valuable investments you can make in your health and the longevity of your tramping career. So, if you haven’t already, isn’t it time you signed up? Get moving, head here and join 5000 others who are taking on the challenge and improving their health.

It’s estimated that more than 4000 people are walking Te Araroa Trail this year. If walking 11 minutes a day can have a positive effect on your health, imagine what walking the length of the country in four or five months could do for you? A trimmer waistline for starters.

Many people who walk the trail also give up their jobs to do so. That in itself can be a health benefit. As Imogen Cox notes on p56, it’s what she didn’t carry in her pack – work-related emails, the responsibilities of home, deadlines, schedules and a fluctuating level of stress – that was just as important as the gear she did carry. “Gone were negative thoughts, replaced by a deep sense of inner peace and gratitude for the beauty of Aotearoa, and for life itself,” she says.

You don’t have to give up your job and walk the length of the country to find this inner peace and gratitude. Walking, getting into nature and leaving our devices at home – even if for just 11 minutes – is good for us. Intuitively, we all know it.