Mr Gatting, 28, has just completed a huge fundraiser for KiwiHarvest, where he volunteers every Friday at its Frankton depot, running New Zealand’s 11 Great Walks in 11 days.
The avid runner wanted to take on a challenge to help spread awareness of what the food rescue charity does, as well as raise some money for its coffers.
To date, he’s raised just over $17,000 of his $20,000 goal.
He started on Waitangi Day at Fiordland’s Hump Ridge Track, then flew to Stewart Island that night to run the Rakiura Track, before three nights in Te Anau as he ran the Kepler, Milford and Routeburn tracks.
"I had some friends from Queenstown come and join me for the Milford Track, which was awesome, because there’s some admin involved with catching a boat at either end."
Things took a turn on the Routeburn, though, when he sprained an ankle.
"It swelled up badly, but it wasn’t actually hurting too much, so I was able to finish and got to the end — we looked at it and thought, ‘well, let’s just carry on and see how we go’."
A mate met him in Glenorchy and drove him to the West Coast, while Mr Gatting elevated his foot on the dashboard for the entire drive.
"There was a bit of nerves in the car, but at the same time we were like, it’ll be what it’ll be."
Having knocked back some painkillers and strapped his ankle the next morning, he carried on to do the Paparoa Track — finishing that, he says, was a good confidence booster.
From there, he knocked off the Heaphy Track and the Abel Tasman, the latter he describes as a "logistical nightmare" due to a tidal crossing in the middle.
"It had to be timed right, so I ended up starting it at 2am — it actually ended up being one of the highlights of the journey.
"It was moonlight, the temp was perfect for running, so we cruised through the night and finished it off about 11am, which pretty much gave me a whole day of rest to do admin like washing."
Flying from Nelson to Auckland, Gatting’s cousin took him to Tongariro — a "nice and easy" loop — before he was joined by three friends to complete the Whanganui Journey last Sunday, which involved kayaking the Whanganui River, before finishing his epic adventure on the Bay of Plenty’s Waikaremoana Track.
"It was probably one of the least-maintained tracks out of all of them, so the second half really started to drag on," he says.
"It was one of those ones where you’re so excited to finish, but it had taken it out of me more than I expected, so I was simultaneously so elated, but also just like, man, I think my body’s finally beginning to give out a bit.
"I like to think I’ll be running again by this weekend"
