Oxfam Trailwalker India
| Oxfam Trailwalker India | |
|---|---|
| Date | Mumbai, 23-25 November 2018 Bengaluru, 18-20 January 2019 |
| Location | Mumbai, Bengaluru |
| Event type | Trail |
| Distance | 100km/ 50km |
| Established | 1981 (Hong Kong), 2012 (India) |
| Official site | Trailwalker India [1] |
Oxfam Trailwalker India or Trailwalker India is the Indian edition of the global Trailwalker event.
The event, in general, is Oxfam’s annual flagship fundraising event where teams of four walk 100kms of varied terrain within 30-48 hours depending on the country/edition. It is being held across 17 locations in 10 different countries globally.
Touted as an endurance walk ‘for a cause’, Trailwalker requires each participating team to raise a minimum amount of funds to be able to participate in the final event.
History[edit]
Introduced as a training exercise for Queen's Gurkha Signals by Brigadier Mervyn Lee in Hong Kong as early as 1981, Trailwalker was opened to civil participation in 1986. The event was co-organised by Oxfam Hong Kong from 1986 until 1996, who then continued to organise the event after the Gurkha regiment’s relocation to the United Kingdom in 1997. With much fanfare, Oxfam Trailwalker completed 35 years in 2016.[1]
In India, Oxfam Trailwalker was introduced in the year 2012, in Bengaluru. The event was subsequently brought to Mumbai from 2013.
Events[edit]
Currently, Oxfam India organises two Trailwalker events every year - in Bengaluru and Mumbai. In addition to the standard 100km-48 hour format, a 50km-24 hour walk format was also introduced which continues to be a part of the event. A total of seven editions have been organised in Bengaluru and five in Mumbai.
Upcoming events are scheduled from 23-25 November 2018 in Mumbai and from 18-20 January 2019 in Bengaluru.
Trails[edit]
The routes at Trailwalker India are point-to-point and are updated every few years. The current route for Bengaluru stretches from Sultanpet to Devanahalli around Nandi Hills, India. Mumbai will see a new trail around Karjat, from 2018.
Participation[edit]
Corporate participation[edit]
Pearl Academy CEO, who participated at her first 100km Oxfam Trailwalker at the age of 49 in 2014, and later walked another edition, has hailed Trailwalker as one of the toughest and best experiences of her life - “It made me understand life has limitless possibilities.” she said in an interview with Mint (newspaper). [2]
The Indian editions of Trailwalker witness over 85% corporate participation from various industries. Top global and Indian corporates are known to participate in the event including Goldman Sachs, Accenture, Microsoft, State Street Corporation, Swiss Re, Thomson Reuters, Microland and Technicolor India.
Celebrity participation[edit]
The event has seen support and participation by super model and fitness enthusiast Milind Soman, who completed the Ironman Triathlon in his first attempt, and Indian actor, social activist and former rugby player Rahul Bose.
Incidentally, at the age of 76, Milind's mother has also walked the 100km stretch at Trailwalker Mumbai in the year 2015. "I realized that if I wanted to spread this awareness to the next generation, I should ensure that women are involved. Just like how my mother encouraged me to continue, other mothers should understand the value of sport for themselves, and by their example, inspire their families too. Today, at the age of 76, my mother participates in the Oxfam Trailwalker which is a 100 km event. She never fails to inspire." he said in an interview to The Hindu.[3] [4]
A team from Red FM 93.5 including RJ Shaayan, also participated in the Bengaluru edition in 2018.[5]
Individual participation[edit]
Individual participation at Trailwalker India has been on the rise for the last few editions. The age profiling of participants falls majorly in the ’25-40 years’ window, with ≈30% female participation. The minimum age for participation is 18 with no maximum limit. The oldest participant for Trailwalker India is B S Shrikanth who completed the Bengaluru Trailwalker in February 2018 at the age of 77.
State Street Overcoming the Odds Award, Bengaluru[edit]
Introduced in the year 2016-17, in collaboration with a major partner, this award recognises an individual/ team who overcome various obstacles to complete the walk and set an example in tenacity. The first recipient of the Award, Sowmya K Bhaskar, completed the 50km walk while suffering from degenerative blindness with a functional vision of only 10-15%.[6]
Funds[edit]
In the year 2017-18, more than 470 participating teams at Oxfam Trailwalker India managed to raise over INR 6 crores which were used by Oxfam India in reaching out to 7.93 lakh people across the states of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.
References[edit]
- ↑ Eight memorable moments from 35 years of the Oxfam Trailwalker
- ↑ Running is meditation and actually helps you be still and focus, says Nandita Abraham
- ↑ Milind Soman - Born to Run
- ↑ Milind Soman’s mom run a marathon – in a sari and barefoot!
- ↑ Red FM partners with Oxfam to raise a united voice for equality
- ↑ This Bengaluru woman has only 10% vision, but she still walked 50km for the cause of equality
External links[edit]
- Oxfam Trailwalker India
- Exploiting the scope of social media for community outreach
- DNA India - Conquering the scale, and scaling mountain peaks
- 4 Ladies, 48 Hours, 100 km, 1 Cause!
- Mumbai based seafarers to participate in Oxfam ‘Trailwalker’
- Running out of team spirit?
- Walk your way to better fitness
- The route to productivity
- How Milind Soman quit smoking, gave up on sugar, and stopped wearing shoes
- Milind Soman - The Ultraman talks
- Soumya K B completes 50km Trailwalker with 10% vision
- Completing the 100km Trailwalker at the age of 76
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