Fitness, friendship and a good cause were the key reasons participants gave for joining more than 1500 trekkers who walked in teams of four along Sunshine Coast beaches to Noosa last Friday, raising money for the Heart Foundation.
Jodie, Jodie and Marcarla from Brisbane and Kirsten from Buderim have walked with Coastrek for a number of years. This year they walked 30km for fitness, to catch up with each other and raise money for the Heart Foundation.
“It’s just a lovely day out,” Jodie said.
Tina, Tanya, Alicia and Andrea from Brisbane walked 30km “to set a personal challenge for themselves“.
“It’s such a beautiful place to walk,” they said.
It was perfect weather for this year’s Sunshine Coast Coastrek which saw participants walk from Kawana (50km), Mudjimba (30km) or Coolum (20km) to the finish line in Noosa and their efforts were expected to raise about $650,000 for the Heart Foundation.
Sadly, almost every hour of every day, an Australian woman loses her life to heart disease. On average, that is around 20 women a day.
Coolum based trekker, Jordie Smyth, hiked with her team, ‘Andy’s Army’, in memory of her mother Andrea who died suddenly, at the age of 54, of heart disease in September 2023.
“I really want to decrease this horrible statistic and want to avoid anyone else going through what my siblings and I went through losing Mum so young and so suddenly. I know Mum would want that too because if she had any warning we could still have her with us,” Jordie said.
“I thought Coastrek was a great way to fundraise and spread the word about women’s heart health and take on a physical challenge that will benefit me and others.”
Since the first event in 2009, Coastrek, which was created by Wild Women On Top, has transformed millions of lives globally by both improving the health of participants and raising millions of dollars for charity.
Coastrek is a series of team trekking and fundraising walks along spectacular coastal trails around Australia. In 2024, treks have been organised along Sydney’s Northern Beaches, the Mornington Peninsula, the Sunshine Coast, the Fleurieu Peninsula and Margaret River.
“Coastrek is all about friends and colleagues training, fundraising and hiking together as a team of four – it’s more fun, it keeps you on track and you’ve always got a buddy to encourage you. And Event Day is even sweeter when you have a team to celebrate with at the finish line,“ organisers said.
Over the years more than 64,000 trekkers have trained and completed Coastrek with friends, improving their own health and wellbeing and raising over $45 million for charity partners The Fred Hollows Foundation (2009-2018), Beyond Blue (2018-2022) and from 2023, the Heart Foundation.
Coastrek event director Sally Smith commended trekkers for all their hard work and praised the Sunshine Coast for again providing perfect conditions for the hike.
“We’re here to raise funds and awareness for the Heart Foundation but also celebrate all the training and hard work that trekkers have put in leading up to today – they’ve set a goal to take on a big physical challenge and we’re here to support them all the way,” she said.
“It’s always great to come back to the Sunshine Coast each year and trek this stunning coastline – we love it and so do the trekkers.”
The goal is to raise $650,000 for the Heart Foundation and you can support Jordie’s fundraising by donating to team Andy’s Army at coastrek.com.au/fundraisers/andysarmy
