The spirited mums and businesswomen doing the 2021 Oxfam Trailwalker next month are, from left, Megan Harris, Susanne Lorenz, Lara Connors and Nicola Cronin.
A movie night being held at Cambridge’s Tivoli Theatre on Tuesday March 2 will help the four Cambridge businesswomen raise funds for Oxfam. Booking details and tickets for the movie, ‘Love, Weddings and Other Disasters’, are from www.merakiworkspace.co.nz/oxfam-fundraiser.
Four supportive partners and nine kids between them are giving four Cambridge businesswomen a whole new slant on the term ‘endurance’ as they prepare for the 2021 Oxfam Trailwalker.
Susanne Lorenz, Megan Harris, Nicola Cronin and Lara Connors all knew each other before signing up for the challenge late last year. Now, as they put themselves through a tough training regime while trying to keep their busy lives on track, they are fast discovering what being a team player really means.
They’re entering the event as ‘Oxfam Unlimited’. Now, with just over a month to go, they’re mastering the art of pacing themselves to avoid burnout, learning about good shoes and mental fatigue, and squaring up to the reality of balancing hydration with the need to find comfort stops in improbable places.
Susanne, who runs Meraki Workspace and whose idea it was to register in the first place, said they have all learned when to tone down the genial banter, when to give one another a bit of quiet time. Nicola, who owns the Little Olive Tree, knows she may struggle with night walking, while Megan, who runs Coach House B&B, is curbing her tendency to stride on ahead. She joined the group only recently after their original ‘fourth’ had to pull out due to injury.
Lara, who owns Lara Connors Photographer, laughed as she echoed a common thread: “What happens in Oxfam, stays in Oxfam!”
The 100km walk is being held in Taranaki over the weekend of March 20-21. As New Zealand’s largest team endurance event, it calls on teams of four to walk either 50km or 100km across varying terrain while raising funds through sponsorship to Oxfam.
The Cambridge women registered for the full 100km, a distance they must cover in under 36 hours. They have already done a few smaller walks of up to 10km and a 34km walk, and are planning a 45km walk on March 6.
Their brief includes raising a minimum of $2000 for Oxfam. They have already topped $1000 through their online efforts and hope to add to that through more online donations and a movie night they have planned for March 2.
Those keen to support their efforts can go online to www.oxfamtrailwalker.org.nz/t/team-meraki.
