Ben Gatting, 28, plans running New Zealand’s 11 Great Walks in 11 consecutive days, while also raising funds and awareness for a charity which feeds families in need.
From early this year Gatting’s been helping out at KiwiHarvest every Friday — "it helps it’s about 30 seconds away from work" — having been made aware of similar charities when living in Auckland, especially through his mum’s catering business.
"I came down here [18 months ago] and kind of wanted to continue that.
"I came across the KiwiHarvest depot and I was extremely impressed with the operation and everything."
Gatting’s an avid runner and hiker who’s already walked or run eight of the Great Walks.
He’s had his mission in mind for a while, but it crystallised when Southland’s Tuatapere Hump Ridge Track joined the network in October — "I was, ‘oh well, that means there’s a chance to do 11 in 11"’.
He admits the logistics of getting to the start line for each walk 11 days in a row — eight in the South Island and three in the North Island — "is almost more difficult than the running".
He thinks he’ll run an average seven hours a day — "one or two will probably be nearly 11-, 12-hour affairs".
"There’ll be some days where I’ll aim for a quicker run just to give a bit more time off the feet."
Gatting will run south to north, commencing with Stewart Island’s Rakiura Track on February 6.
So far he’s raised about $1000 but would love to raise $20,000 to $30,000 — "I want to just throw as much heat as I can into it".
His Givealittle page is ‘11 in 11 for KiwiHarvest’.
