Trailwalker!

Vignesh (extreme right) with other members of Confident Flying Feet

Trailwalker Update

‘Confident Flying Feet’ finish first in the first ever Indian Trailwalker

The fastest team to complete the ultimate challenge was the one comprising of 4 Bangaloreans who did it in 20 hours 36 minutes!

The debut chapter of Oxfam India Trailwalker that started from Sangam, Mekadatu on February 10, 2011 became an interesting experience for the participants and supporters when 10 teams landed at the end point of the ‘ultimate challenge’ more than 18 hours before the designated duration of 48 hours. ‘Confident Flying Feet’, a team of four from the Bengaluru city finished first in the challenge in 20 hours 36 minutes and landed at Eagleton Golf Resort in the middle of night to be cheered by all the support crew and event staff of Oxfam’s first ever Trailwalker in India.

Total No. of Teams Registered- 83

Total No. of Teams Reported for the Walk- 80 (3 teams did not come for the walk)

Total No. of Full Teams Retired before reaching finish line- 02

Total No. of Teams with atleast one member completing the walk- 78

Total No. of Full Teams Completing the walk- 41

No. of teams with 3 members each, completing the walk- 23

No. of teams with 2 members each, completing the walk- 13

No. of teams with 1 member each, completing the walk- 01

Results Fastest All Male Team- Team No. 48; Time 20 hours 36 min and 00 seconds

Fastest All female Team- Team No. 74; Time 44 hours 36 min and 26 seconds

Fastest Mix Team (atleast one male and one female)- Team No. 010; Time 28 hours 28 min and 16 seconds

March of the Penguins Fastest Veteran Team (atleast two members are of age more than 50 years)- Team No. 024; Time 24 hours 16 min and 46 seconds- this is team from Hongkong and they are also the 2nd fastest team.

Team to arrive last- Team no. 056; Time- 46 hours 20 min and 42 seconds

The target of 100 kms in 48 hours sounds very difficult, but the team which finished first had a completely different take on it.  Vigesh, the team leader of ‘Confident Flying Feet’, who is also the winner of Bengaluru Midnight Marathon in December 2010 & a professional cycler, said “We were the first one to cross check point one – we covered a distance of 30 kms within first 3 hours. Our strategy was not to stop anywhere as we wanted to finish it first. We are happy that we were able to live up to our strategy and our dreams”

Vigesh, Chandrusekhan, Nanjunda & Manjunath SS (all in their 20s) the four members of the local ‘Confident Flying Feet’ come from a very humble background. Mechanics by profession who earn less than Rs. 10,000 per month, the team got a lot of support from their employers to participate in the Trailwalker and raise funds for the cause. Commenting on this Vignesh, the team leader of ‘Confident Flying Feet’ further said “We know the importance of equality in society and we understand that we all need to put in efforts to bring about this change”

Speaking on the occasion, Nisha Agrawal, CEO, Oxfam India said “We were always very confident of the success of our first Trailwalker as all of us had put in a lot of efforts in making our event at par with our global standards. However, what kept us going with so much of enthusiasm till the end was the feedback and responses that we got from our participants”

“It is very demanding to put in so much dedication and commitment in a task that is not very easy. I am happy that so many of the teams have been able to do so” she further added.

The participation from Oxfam globally in its first Indian chapter was also overwhelming. 3 Oxfam Global teams- two from Hong-Kong & one from Singapore finished the trailwalk well within 30 hours becoming the top 10 teams of Indian Trailwalker. Commenting on the same, John Sayer, Executive Director, Oxfam, Hong-Kong said “This was an interesting experience for us as we never walked through an elephant scare before. We have traveled so far to India and we had to perform.’’

The top ten teams of first chapter of Indian Trailwalker are: Confident Flying Feet, Protrek, World Walkers, Mind Tree Runners, Making Strides, 4 of a Kind, March of the Penguins, Health Fox, Petrofac Mumbai Rockers & Fauja ki Fauj.

Bengaluru will now witness the second chapter of Oxfam India Trailwalker in 2013.