Helen Vause - Walking for Fitness, Pleasure and Health: A complete guide for women of all ages

Many women with a passion for walking and wellness have made a contribution to this book by sharing their knowledge, networks and expertise. I would like to acknowledge them all for helping me to get started and for keeping me on track.

First, I want to thank Susan Devoy for her commitment and support and for welcoming me into the online community of Wonder Walkers with all of its great resources for walking women.

Early in the journey two of the Wonder Walkers experts in exercise, motivation, nutrition and so much moreWendy Sweet and Christel Dunshea-Mooijgave me generous attention and the vital professional input to help inform and shape the project.

I would also like to thank a number of women who have built businesses and careers out of being fit and well and have helped to motivate countless others to get active: fitness guru Michelle McCormack, Nordic walking exponent June Stevenson (Nordic Kiwi), Julie Renouf (physiotherapist), Jill Grant (A Walkers World) Carole Mills (Travel Managers), Jo Jukes (Oxfam), Yvette Higgins (Darebin City Council), Rachel Spriggins and Tanya Atkinson (Sport Wellington), Stephanie Moran (Vitality Works), Kirsten Andrews and Monique Blunden (Heart Foundation, Australia) and Sally Orr (London Moonwalk, Walk the Walk).

Without the assistance of these people, it would have taken a very long time for me to find the great bunch of women who patiently told me their stories (good bits and bad) to share with readers and hopefully to inspire others to become committed to regular walking and add another very healthy dimension to their lives.

Finally, a special thank you to Emma Darragh-Heath for allowing us to publish her lovely, poignant poem.

The genesis of this book was the result of a website aptly named wonderwalkers.co.nz, which I developed with my colleague and friend Paula Thompson. I emphasise the word friend, because after all the trials and tribulations we have been through in developing this project, it is remarkable that we even talk to each other.

I moved to the winterless city of Tauranga in 2003 to take up a role as CEO of Sport Bay of Plenty. Sport BOP is one of about 16 regional sports trusts established throughout New Zealand to be regional arms of Sport and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC), the Crown entity charged with developing opportunities for people to participate in sport and recreational activities. The function of each regional trust is to be the local face of sport and physical activity. It was my first real job, apart from my earlier career as a professional athlete and my continuing role as a full-time mother of four boys.

Personal circumstances meant that suddenly my life was turned upside down and I was faced with the challenge of working full time, just when my youngest was about to start school. Instead of getting some time for myself, I was thrown head-first into the wonderful and complex world of management in the not-for-profit sector. It was both exciting and daunting: while the work was immensely rewarding, the sport and recreation sector was going through some major changes. And, as we all know, the not-for-profit sector is an enormously difficult environment at the best of times.

Not long after I had started my new job, Paula made an appointment to see me. She had previously been the CEO of Tauranga City Council and was now a consultant. I was sure she was looking for work, but I was impressed by her sincerity in welcoming me to town and offering her assistance if it was needed. Needed proved an understatement: no sooner had I put my feet under the desk than I realised there was an overwhelming number of issues to deal with. I think I rang her the very next day. What followed was quite remarkable. Suddenly I was knee-deep in organisational restructures and hands-on learning about the principles of management, ably guided by one super-intelligent woman. In just a couple of years an organisation that could have shut its doors and no one would have noticed became a thriving and respected body, connected to its stakeholders and providing real added-value to the community.

Along the way our friendship developed, despite the fact our lives couldnt have been more different. But we did share a love of animals, particularly our dogs, and we felt most at ease when we were away from the office, out in the fresh air walking our four-legged friends. We soon found the walking meetings were far more productive than those held while fuelling ourselves up on coffee, and at every opportunity we would attempt to solve the problems of the world.

At that time we were mandated to encourage more people to be more active more often. The scope of our role was broad, from the couch potato to those actively involved in organised and structured sport. The then Labour Government was very keen to promote physical activity in an attempt to change our ever-increasing sedentary lifestyles and curb the onset of a likely obesity epidemic.

Helen Vause with Dame Susan Devoy.

Suddenly there were initiatives galore, and taxpayers money was being spent indiscriminately on a whole raft of ideas aimed at improving our overall health outcomes. While we recognised the need, both Paula and I were doubtful about some of the ideas, and wondered if they were an indication of levels of bureaucracy gone mad. Was the message really getting through, or were people being put off by the unwelcome warning: Thou shalt exercise or thou wilt die?

Unconvinced by the effectiveness of what we were doing, we knew our time at Sport BOP had come to an end. But rather than continue to whinge and moan about what we perceived wasnt working, we decided after many walks and many wines that we would put our money where our mouths were and take a giant leap of faith and have a crack ourselves.

So Wonder Walkers was conceived. Our over-arching goal was to find a way for women to enjoy being active, primarily through walking. Why walking? Because it is relatively easy, affordable, and good for the environment.

But at this time of my life there were personal experiences motivating me, too. I had become increasingly enthusiastic about walking, partly because of an accident that left me facing a long and arduous recovery and re-evaluating my options for staying fit and active. Even though I had long been retired from squash and the world of lite sport, I was still focused on being a super-duper athlete. I was out there running, challenging myself and looking for that adrenaline rush.

In 2007, all that went out the window overnight when I ruptured my Achilles tendon. Walking was very much part of my journey back to recovery. I really came to love it, by which time I had worked out that you dont have to go into oxygen debt and flog yourself in order to obtain great benefits from exercise. I also discovered that walking made me feel great.

I like to call walking my antidepressant of choice. But of course its much more than that. It takes me into the glorious outdoorsa welcome change after years of exercising inside. It gives me time to think, it keeps me sane, and through it I have met many wonderful women who are walkers. And just like the rest of us, they all have their own stories.

When we set up Wonder Walkers we wanted it to be a place where women could get a daily fix of health without the guilt attached, and with a little humour thrown in. It is an opportunity for women to share whatever their hearts desire in a friendly environment. But we also wanted it to help plug that crucial gap that exists for most women between what we