EVERYDAY PEOPLE DOING EXTRAORDINARY THINGS: MEET NAT

Nat is a Sydney mother of 2 young girls who has been a big supporter of School for Life for a number of years. She climbed Mt Kilimanjaro with us in June this year and was able to meet the 4 children she sponsors in Uganda afterwards. 

What was your number one reason for signing up for our Kili Challenge?

I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and challenge myself both physically and mentally and thought Kili would tick those boxes and more, and my gosh it did!!! 

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 What training did you do in the lead up to the challenge and how many weeks/months did you prepare? (e.g. personal training, altitude training etc)

I started training in November last year. I would do a trek once a month up until I left for my trip, as well as walks during the week days. These would vary from 5km to 10km.

I ramped up my training three months prior to our departure. This included walking every day including a large 15/20 km trek once a week.

I also engaged in a personal trainer once a week to work on core strength and stability and did Altitude Training once sometimes twice a week.

 

What was the highlight/s of your Kilimanjaro experience?

Where do I start… the amazing landscapes and views of Kilimanjaro as we were walking each day were pretty spectacular. Walking above the clouds was pretty special too!

I made some great friends along the way and we all bonded so well and had so many laughs, it really made the experience that much better!

Although at the time I didn’t’ fully appreciate it (as I was so fatigued) touching that timber Kili sign, with the coloured flags on it was a pretty surreal moment of achievement and determination and was probably one of the biggest highlights of the whole experience!

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What kind of fundraising activities did you do?

All my fundraising was done online using social media and utilising my network of friends and family.

I made sure I updated my Everyday Hero Page with all my training treks so my supporters could see how I was going.

I also did this on my Instagram and Facebook page too and included the link to my Everyday Hero page so people could donate.

I included details of the trek and the link to my Everyday Hero Page on my email signature.

Would you recommend family and friends to do it?

Absolutely I would!

It was an amazing experience that I will never forget. Yes it was tough at times but being able to say I conquered Africa’s tallest, free standing mountain and the fourth biggest in the world, is a great feeling and one I know will never leave me!

To take a step out of your comfort zone, why not join our team set to tackle all 5895 metres of Mount Kilimanjaro in September 2018? To learn more, visit us here.

MEET MORE OF OUR EXTRAORDINARY COMMUNITY

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