Pat’s Amazing Trek for Charity

Emu Plains resident Pat Anderson has achieved an extraordinary feat, all whilst raising much-needed funds for charity.

The inspirational local took part in the solo challenge, Big Walk – Icon to Icon, on 28th December 2022. The challenge involved walking from The Three Sisters Lookout in Katoomba to the Sydney Harbour Bridge continuously.

Anderson raised an amazing $5,100 for the Black Dog Institute, a Mental Health Awareness and Research charity.

“Since I was in primary school, I had a goal of walking from my hometown in Emu Plains all the way to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. On 30th December 2021, I fulfilled that dream. I walked 62kms over 10 hours on foot,” said Pat.

With encouragement from friends to ‘do the next walk for charity’, Pat set the challenge of walking from Katoomba to Sydney.

“This walk was uncharted territory for me, I’ve never been overly fit or done much competitive walking or running before. I was actually unsure of the official distance on foot. I didn’t have a team with me, and did this on my own. I tracked it with my Garmin watch and hoped for the best” he explained.

Made even more extraordinary was the fact that Pat had a stomach bug for three days leading up to the walk and only had an hour’s sleep the night before. Furthermore, the day would bring sweltering temperatures of 35 degrees.

On 28th December 2022, he set out on the epic walk from The Three Sisters Lookout in Katoomba at 3:30am.

“Having to do most of my walk on footpaths and roadways along the way, the heat off the ground really effected my body and it was sapping. I was pushing out record amounts of sweat and tried to keep as hydrated as possible. I went through 12 litres of water in my camelback and countless amounts of stops at service stations for additional supplies. I suffered with intense cramping in my legs to a level which I have never felt before” Pat stated.

He reached Blacktown, before his body locked up with cramp. With his parents arriving and giving him magnesium tablets to aid his recovery, Pat managed to reach Parramatta Road in Lidcombe before he collapsed and physically could not go on.

“I was so disappointed knowing that I didn’t get to my end goal of reaching the Harbour Bridge. However, it was 11:30pm, I was on my own and I just walked 91km (a new PB) from the Three Sisters, with a ridiculous amount of support behind me.

“I gave all I had in the tank. I’m extremely proud of that!” he affirmed.

“The support from family and friends was something very special. My mind was blown by how much support I received leading up to this Big Walk and I thank everyone” Pat ended.