Our Blogs

Morgan McKinley’s two Oxfam Trailwalker teams took to the first part of the official trail this weekend to test our metal against the 100km route, today ticking off 32km. 

Our two foolhardy teams, the Morgan McKinley Diamonds and Morgan McKinley Dynamos are comprised of 8 team members aiming to raise $10,000 for Oxfam as part of the Oxfam Trailwalker event. 

Saturday’s walk – Checkpoints 1 & 2
We set out early from the City on the train to the Hawkesbury River / Brooklyn where we started our day from the exact spot where the start line will be in just over 60 days time. We immediately faced an extremely steep hill climb and can now see why some teams are practicing hill sprints already! I think I’ll save the energy for the rest of the walk. 

As we headed up onto the Great North Walk in the Ku-ring-gai National Park we took a slight de-tour which involved climbing a fence, by this point we realised we’d probably taken a wrong turn.. Back onto the trail we were going at a good pace despite a few cuts and scrapes and some ripped clothing! 

One thing I can say is although I’ve done this section of the Great North Walk before it was a lot harder than I remember it. In places we found ourselves climbing rather than walking! You’ll see from the elevation change that 3 or 4 times we went from sea level to nearly 220-240 metres and back down again, to put that into perspective the MLC Centre in Sydney’s CBD is 228m tall...

We completed a 32km trek through undulating terrain ahead of the average pace (just a little over 7 hours!) suggested on the Oxfam Trailwalker website and so are hopeful we can keep up the good work with our training! Worth checking out the full 100km route here, from today’s practice it is going to be some challenge. 

Oxfam’s goal
Oxfam provides vital work around the world and enables the people they help to bring about positive change in their lives. They promote education, ensure access to clean water, help to develop teaching skills to grow food and encourage people to fight for their rights. A 100km is the least we can do.. 

Morgan McKinley Million
We’ll also be moving towards completing our Morgan McKinley Million challenge, our global initiative to raise €1 million by 2018 as an organisation; in turn improving the lives of those around us and in our communities.

Donations 
With that in mind it is going to be a real challenge, both mentally and physically and we would really appreciate any donations to the cause. A click on either of our teams will lead you to the donation page, pick from either the girls or the boys; Morgan McKinley Diamonds or Morgan McKinley Dynamos!!! 

We’ll post regular updates on our training journey and during the walk itself and look forward to taking you along for the ride.