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Three Mahurangi men trekked more than 100km along the Heaphy Track, completing their journey within 24 hours and raising more than $35,000 for the Himalayan Trust.
Bayleys Real Estate director Mark Macky organised the challenge, which was also completed by Springboard founder Gary Diprose and Bayleys agent Raymond Barnes. They were joined by nine others.
The marathon effort is the fifth extreme challenge set by Mr Macky, 45, to raise money for the trust.
He says he was inspired by trust founder Sir Edmund Hillary, who shortly before he died urged that people remember him not by erecting statues in his honour, but rather by continuing his work.
Mr Macky timed the Heaphy challenge to coincide with what would have been Sir Edmund’s 100th birthday.
The 12 set off at 5pm Friday, February 22, and tramped through the night along most of Heaphy Track between Golden Bay and the West Coast. They reached the halfway point about 4am. They then turned around and retraced their steps with the aim of returning to their starting point by 5pm on Saturday.
Exhausted but jubilant, the party arrived back where they started with about 30 minutes to spare. The longest stop on their journey was just 10 minutes long.
“I’m thinking we’re too old to be doing this stuff. We should be smarter by now, but clearly we are not,” Mr Macky says.
“A few of the boys felt a little bit ill and a little bit sore, but they all made it in one piece.”
The Himalayan Trust is a non-profit humanitarian organisation which provides education, safe water and better healthcare to communities living in the Everest region of Nepal.
Mr Macky got to see the trust’s work there when he hiked to the Mount Everest Base camp about three years ago with his friend Ken Brophy.
Other extreme challenges he has set for friends include climbing Mt Taranaki, Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe within 24 hours. The events have raised about $100,000 for the trust. To donate, visit givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/100kms-for-100k-for-100years
