Spaces Remain: Walk on the Wild Side for Cure Kids

MEDIA ALERT – LIMITED SPACES REMAIN FOR WILD WALK
15 September 2010

500 Kiwis to Walk on the Wild Side for Cure Kids

Spots are filling quickly for Walk on the Wild Side, an adventurous fundraising event for Cure Kids, a charity investing in research to find cures for life-threatening illnesses impacting Kiwi kids.

Spaces for the 17km adventure walk, which traverses beautiful private farmland, bush and wetland, and follows the spectacular coastline on Auckland’s wild west coast, are limited to only 500. To prepare for the challenge, and in return for their entry fee of $250, all 500 entrants will be given access to an individually tailored, online, eight week health and fitness programme developed by PLHealth, a corporate health management company.

“Walk on the Wild Side offers a great opportunity to not only get back into shape after winter, but to also get adventurous with fundraising for a great cause that makes a real difference to the lives of Kiwi families,” said the charity’s GM – Brand & Business Development, Carolyn Hobson.

“This is the first Walk on the Wild Side. In time we hope to have a network of wild walks. The inaugural event provides a great opportunity for Aucklanders to explore the fantastic scenery that exists in their own backyard, while also making a real difference to the lives of the thousands of children that live with life-threatening illness through their fundraising support.”

To help Cure Kids reach its $300,000 fundraising goal for the event, entrants will be encouraged to top up their entry fee and fundraise a further $350 in the lead up to the November event, with all proceeds going towards funding vital medical research into all illnesses affecting Kiwi kids.

Already signed up for the programme are star couple Faye Smythe (Shortland Street’s Tania Jefferies) and Te Kohe Tuhaka (Zave from Go Girls), as well as Shortland Street’s Jacquie Nairn (Wendy Cooper) and Gerald Urquhart (Luke Durville).

People interested in registering for Walk on the Wild Side can visit www.walkonthewildside.org.nz or contact Rosemary on 09 370 0283 or r.such@curekids.org.nz for further details.

ENDS

About Cure Kids
Cure Kids (previously Child Health Research Foundation) was established over 30 years ago to address the lack of research into life-threatening childhood illnesses in New Zealand. Since then, they have invested over $25 million in medical research, which has helped save hundreds of young lives and has improved the quality of life of thousands more children. Cure Kids is a particularly unique charity in that EVERY CENT raised through fundraising goes directly towards funding research.
For more information, visit www.curekids.org.nz.

About Walk on the Wild Side
“Walk on the Wild Side” is a new Cure Kids fundraising initiative designed to complement their existing range of innovative events.
The event is designed to be a fun yet challenging walk, beginning at Bethells Beach on the West Coast of Auckland, and traversing 17km of the spectacular coastline - with a number of surprises along the way. Teams will be invited to dress up and get into the spirit of the occasion, and to join all other competitors at the finish-line lunch and prize giving celebration.
The inspiration behind this event comes from the Cure Kids Great Adventure Races, which have become highly successful signature events over the last eight years. Realistically however, not everyone can commit to the level of fitness and outdoor skills required for the Great Adventure Race. As a result, Race Director Alan Nelson has designed “Walk on the Wild Side” to be a more achievable event while remaining a worthy challenge that still provides a unique opportunity for a special outdoor experience.
A wide range of individuals are invited to participate in this unique event - from companies attracted to the team building and health and fitness benefits it will provide for their staff, to individuals coming together to form a team and participate in the challenge. All will benefit from the satisfaction gained from supporting such a worthy cause.

The course (17km)
The 17km off-road course will be staged at Bethells Beach in the Waitakere Ranges and features exclusive access to three beautiful private properties over a circuit which also includes the spectacular Te Henga Walkway coastline track, a superb section of the Hillary Trail.
The course starts at the Bethells Beach Reserve and follows a route through farmland and pockets of native bush, skirting the region’s largest wetland and climbing 207 metres to the cliff-tops above the dramatic coastline south of Muriwai. The return section contours above the exposed volcanic coastline, revealing glorious views to the south as far as Whatipu, before returning to Bethells Beach.
Walkers can expect to complete the course in around five to six hours and there is a run category for those in a hurry.
The course will be marked throughout and monitored by Cure Kids’ volunteer officials from Land Search & Rescue. An Aid Station including St John first response services will be established half-way through the course.

How to prepare
As part of the build up to “Walk on the Wild Side”, health and fitness group PLHealth is providing a lifestyle coaching programme online for competitors. The optional eight week programme will focus on overall health goals as well as the training and exercise guidelines participants will need for the event and includes motivational clips, blogs and nutritional advice.

Gearing up to go
A long-sleeved polypro or wool top and a rain-jacket are mandatory minimum safety gear for all participants. Robust off-road running shoes or light-weight tramping boots are ideal for the mixed off-road terrain on the course. Food and water to sustain participants through their journey will also be required along with any personal medication. An official Aid Station half-way through the course will provide water and medical assistance. Entrants will be encouraged to train in the gear they will use on the day to ensure they have no unpleasant fit or function gear surprises.

Leave only footprints
The Waitakere Ranges has an outstanding natural environment that complements the event superbly. In return the area deserves respect and protection. “Walk on the Wild Side” is committed to leaving only footprints and has developed a zero impact event programme accordingly. Initiatives include individual responsibility for any potential rubbish on the day, provision for toilets on course, advocating car-pooling for participants and the provision of bus transport. Cure Kids seek all participants’ support of this programme.

Keeping participants in the loop
Once participants have entered, Cure Kids will keep them up to date with event information, ideas and motivation. Fundraising suggestions, training programmes, gear advice and team blogs are all designed to be helpful and good fun as entrants train and fundraise toward their goals. It’s going to be a challenge in all sorts of ways and that’s a good thing. The rewards at both a physical and humanitarian level will be profound.

How to register
People can register online at www.walkonthewildside.org.nz. Each individual pays an initial entry fee of $250.00 and makes a further commitment to fundraise an additional minimum amount of $350.00 by 11 November 2010.
The team at Cure Kids are keen to help get participants going with fantastic tips and tricks to achieve their fundraising goals. Whether it be $600 or more, Cure Kids will help them get there. Remember, it’s for the kids!

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