Listen
Photo: Wilderness Magazine
The Walk1200km challenge was born - like so many things - out of Covid.
Wilderness magazine saw it as a way to encourage people with time on their hands - and distance to keep - into the outdoors, with the aim of logging 100 kilometres each month.
There's no pressure - as the Challenge's founder Alistair Hall says.
You can count your daily steps - or you can do a deliberate walk to tally up the kilometres.
It's become the country's largest walking network - and it took a top prize at the Golden Foot Awards this year.
Alistair joins Kathryn to explain how it all works, along with two people for whom the challenge has meant so much more than just putting their best foot forward.
For Donna Broome in Timaru it helped her push past loneliness and anxiety - to meet a life partner.
For Jade Bell in Selwyn, a means of coping with the loss of hers.