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Mark Macky, second from the left, and his team started walking at 5am and finished at 2am the next morning.
A Warkworth real estate agent has taken part in a 20-hour nonstop walk through the Waitakere Ranges to raise funds for Nepalese charity, The Himalayan Trust.Bayleys in the North owner and director Mark Macky tramped more than 80km up and down the slopes of the Hillary Trail last month, from Muriwai to Titirangi via Bethells Beach, Piha, Karekare, Whatipu and Huia.
“I can promise you I have never sweated nearly as much as I did then,” he says. “I estimate I drank 14 litres of fluid during the course of the day, and went for a toilet break only four times! If they say 10,000 steps a day is a good goal, we did pretty well – we managed 137,00, according to my phone.”
This is the third endurance walk Mark has done in aid of The Himlayan Trust, a charity started by the late Sir Edmund Hillary. The first was walking the three highest peaks in the North Island (Taranaki, Ruapehu and Ngaruahoe) in under 24 hours, and the second was walking the length of the Tongariro National Park in 21 hours nonstop.
This time last year, he was in training and all set to fly to Nepal to do a hike to Everest Base Camp when two major earthquakes devastated the region and put a halt to the trip in April.
“Given the earthquakes and the damage in Nepal, we thought it was time to do a walk again to raise some funds for this very worthy cause,” Mark says.
He is hoping that he and his fellow walkers’ efforts will net more than $13,000. Donations can still be made at give.everydayhero.com/nz/lotsofpeaks
