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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 3 Hansard (8 April) . . Page.. 732 ..

MS REILLY (5.33): Obviously, last weekend a lot of people were involved in sporting and recreational activities. I also took part in such an activity with my Liberal colleague Mr Stefaniak. We took part in the Canberra two-day medal walk. It was with great pleasure that Bill and I walked along some of the footpaths and cyclepaths of Canberra in the sunshine on Saturday, enjoying the colours of autumn. It really was a glorious weekend to walk through various parts of Canberra with many people, either ACT residents or visitors to the ACT, who were very impressed with the national capital. Maybe we should get John Howard out to have a look at the place that he visits so rarely.

Mr Moore: No, do not do that. He might stay.

MS REILLY: That is another point. This is the sixth time that the two-day walk has been held in Canberra. It is a community walking event that in some ways differs from other fun runs or walks. The distances that are walked are considerably longer than in most other events. The participants walk 10, 20 or 30 kilometres on each day of the two days of the event. There is no camping out, but they do have a considerable distance to cover. There is no fundraising and there is no timing of the participants. People can walk at their own pace and enjoy the sunshine. That is what we encourage. People stop for coffee, visit friends and visit national monuments on the way. That is part of the pleasure of this walk. The aim is not to finish in the quickest time. Of course, some people cannot bear not competing, and there is always somebody who has to find out whether they were the first one in. It is usually a small child.

Mr Humphries: Did you beat Mr Stefaniak or not?

MS REILLY: He seemed to come in after I did. I think he walked a slightly longer distance.

Mr Humphries: But you were not competitive, of course!

MS REILLY: He did walk a longer distance. People of all ages take part. Apart from the child of 18 months who did not walk the whole distance, a child of four took part in the 10-kilometre walk and people over the age of 80 also walked. One of the beauties of this event is that people of all ages and of all levels of fitness can take part. You do not have to be an elite athlete; you do not have to do massive quantities of training. Some people do the walk every year.

The Canberra walk is modelled on the Vierdaagse that has been held in Nijmegen in the Netherlands for over 80 years. Other walks in other parts of Europe and in Japan are held each year. The Canberra walk provides an opportunity to see Canberra in a different way. On Sunday afternoon at the end of the walk more than 50 people were presented with silver medals for having participated in the last five walks. Some people were presented with six-year pins. They had taken part in every walk that has been held.

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