"My name is Sarah, I’m 15 years old, and live in Perth, Western Australia.  In my life I have cross-country run over 300 km’s and hiked over 500 km’s.  I have done a lot of hiking in the Great Dividing Range thanks to a fantastic school.  At the time I was always the slowest hiker in my group and definitely the slowest runner but what I gained has helped me with problems and has changed me for the better.

Hiking and running at first were extremely physically demanding, as you can guess.  I was unfit and don’t think I had any muscle at all.  Getting my head around the tasks at hand was the biggest challenge. I had to look at a mountain and change my thinking from “That can’t be the right mountain, as if I could ever do that!” to: “I can do this.”  It took me months to change but I’m a better person for it.

Mount Howitt is my favourite mountain because it is so flat and beautiful on top.  You can see all of the surrounding mountains; it is a very spiritual experience.  There are no huts or flats on top, so it’s a great environment that’s unpolluted by modernization.  To me, places like these are the ones really worth going to.

I used to think weekends and holidays were all about chilling out on the couch, in front of TV, with the bag of chips next to me but these previous few years have shown me that there is more to life.  Exercise can include relaxation and at the end of it, a fantastic sense of achievement.  Hiking to me is no longer a chore and I don’t get nervous before a big run. I’ve learnt to put my head down and work but not to forget to take a look around sometimes because you can find beautiful things when you put in the effort. Sarah H”.