BLISTERED and sore, Alan Thorpe is Skipton-bound.
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His latest walking mission is underway, notching up 30 kilometres every day of April to raise money and awareness for mental health organisation Beyond Blue.
Mr Thorpe has started to "get a bit of a name" for his seemingly relentless walking about the region. He is proud about that because the more mental health awareness he can raise, the more his efforts might help others.
This April walk is Mr Thorpe's most ambitious, having walked halfway to Adelaide last year before disbanding due to injury, then regrouping to walk 500 kilometres in 20 days about Ballarat streets.
After three days walking, Mr Thorpe developed a blister on his right foot, pain in his shins and back pain. Mentally, Mr Thorpe said he was feeling all right and determined to find a walk-around to his issues, helped by his chiropractor.
Wednesday was spent trekking about Ballarat, mostly at Lake Wendouree, after a tough hilly start to his campaign on the road to Castlemaine.
"It's still daunting. This time there are more Ks than both my past works together," Mr Thorpe said. "...I just encourage people to reach out to a friend or anyone to see how they're going and to know there is always someone there for help."
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Mr Thorpe said it had been a particularly tough couple of months leading into this walk without being able to spend time with his children. While walking helped his mental health, Mr Thorpe said he could see the impact on his training, which was far less preparation that he ideally would have made before a walking campaign.
Even so, Mr Thorpe said some things worked in his favour.
"I had done 82 kilometres when I reached Castlemaine [on Tuesday] and still needed to make another eight kilometres for the day so I did another three-and-a-half around Castlemaine then started walking back. I hit 90 right outside the front of the pub in Campbell's Creek - that was the best beer I'd ever had," Mr Thorpe said.
For this campaign, Mr Thorpe is based in Ballarat but walking out to nearby regional centres, picking up where he leaves off the day before. He was considering which direction he might step this Easter, knowing challenging weather loomed.
Follow Mr Thorpe at Iwalkformensmentalhealth on social media. He also has donation boxes in businesses across the wider region.
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