Pair step up for needy families in barefoot challenge
5 May, 2021 01:34 PM
5 minutes to read
Vini Williams and Jack Keeys completed 100 kilometres barefoot for charity in April. Photos / Supplied
Bay of Plenty Times
By: Rebecca Mauger
Pals Vini Williams and Jack Keeys aren t the sort to sit around with their feet up.
The ex-Paeroa friends decided to put their tootsies to the test and raise money for underprivileged children by walking barefoot for 100km in five days and they ve just returned.
Their actual time due to unforeseen circumstances turned out to be 113km in 101 hours but the pair are proud as punch and have raised nearly $10,000.
The Abel Tasman Coast Track is one of the New Zealand Department of Conservation s Great Walks. After competing in Auckland’s Gumboot Marathon raising just under $23,000 for Melanoma NZ and Rural Support Trust, Keeys said he had been itching to find another opportunity to give back. It was Williams who suggested a run to raise funds to buy school and sport shoes for low socio-economic communities. Teaming up with the Salvation Army, Williams then thought “why not take the gumboot concept a step further and go barefoot”. The schoolmates spent more than three months training every weekend barefoot on different treks across the Waikato in preparation.
Thursday, 18 March 2021, 10:33 am
A Paeroa duo are planning to walk over 100km in just five
days, completing two of New Zealand’s Great Walks -
barefoot.
Vini Williams and Jack Keeys are scheduled
to start the Abel Tasman great walk on the 16th of April
completing what is usually a four-day walk, in less than 48
hours. They will then return to the North Island and
complete the lake Waikaremoana walk, another four-day walk,
again in under 48 hours.
Their goal is to raise money
to purchase school and sports shoes for children across low
socio-economic areas in New Zealand, and in targeted
Thursday, 18 March 2021, 10:33 am | Barefoot for a Future A Paeroa duo are planning to walk over 100km in just five days, completing two of
New Zealand’s Great Walks - barefoot. Vini Williams and Jack Keeys are scheduled
to start the Abel Tasman great walk on the 16th of April completing what is usually . More