Teamwork is the key to trekking 62 miles for a very worthy cause

WITH only days to go before the Oxfam Trailtrekker challenge, there is little more the teams can do to prepare physically themselves for the task ahead. For Sara Hamizadeh and her team from Welcome to Yorkshire, called Team Yorkshire, this weekend will see the culmination of months of training as they set off on the gruelling 100km charity walk.

Sara is one of a five-man (and woman) team hoping to complete the day and night trek in under 26 hours.

“Trailtrekker is one of the events support by Welcome to Yorkshire. Last year, I ran the Edinburgh marathon and I was looking for something to do this year, and it sounded really interesting and a bit different.

“I asked around to see if people would join me and it just happened the best response I got was from people at work.”

Although the five had never even been on a walk together, they have gelled well as a team.

“We have a real mixture of personalities, but we all get on really well. I am the organiser, and then there is someone who is really good at map reading and others who are really big personalities who will be really great at keeping us going when we start to flag.”

Although they all have work commitments, they have managed to make time at the weekends to go on ever more demanding walks – starting with 13 miles and gradually building up the distance.

“We have managed to do a few on parts of the actual Trailtrekker route, which we hope will really help us at the weekend.”

Trailtrekker is one of several 100km charity walks organised around the world by the aid charity, Oxfam.

Since its launch, in 2009, the event has become one of Oxfam’s main fund-raising events in the UK, raising more than £650,000 over the past two years for aid projects across the globe.

The Yorkshire Post is media partner for the event.

The 2011 hike has seen a record-breaking number of entries, with almost 800 people signing up to take part. The walkers will set off in teams of four at 7am on Saturday from Aireville School in Skipton, the start and finish point for the 62-mile circuit.

It takes teams an average of 27 hours to complete the full course – which includes some of the Yorkshire Dales’ most famous landmarks, including Malham Cove and Penyghent – and walk through the night to arrive back in Skipton on Sunday morning.

However, for the first time this year Oxfam are also offering teams the opportunity to complete shortened versions of the course –receiving a bronze award for finishing at the 40km mark, or silver for finishing after 64km.

But it is not just the physical challenge of the walk which puts teams to the test.

“It is a big mental challenge as well,” says Sara. “It is quite difficult to know what it will be like as none of us have done it before.

“We expect the hardest part will be around the 40-mile mark and walking through the night, especially when we will have seen our family and friends at the check-point. Our legs will be very tired and it will be difficult to keep going, but we are determined to do it.”

As well as their rigorous training schedule, Team Yorkshire has a secret weapon to get them through.

“We have all chosen our favourite music and we are putting together a play list which we will listen to throughout the trek. We have all chosen music which really gets us going; it will be a real motivation for us.”

WELCOME FUND RAISERS

The Welcome to Yorkshire team, Team Yorkshire, is made up of Sara Hamizadeh, Will Hodgson, James Ruddick, Lisa Losardo and Catriona McLees.

They have already rasied an impressive £1,590.50, exceeding their original £1,500 target for Oxfam but they hope to raise even more.

Anyone interested in sponsoring them should visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/Team_Yorkshire

For more information on the challenge, visit www.oxfam.org.uk or telephone 0300 200244.