On August 26th 2006, myself and 42 others lined up at Owers Corner, near Port Moresby for the start of the 96km Kokoda 22 Hour Challenge. The Kokoda Track is an historical icon amongst Australians as the scene of courageous fighting by an under prepared and outnumbered Australian army who turned back the Japanese in World War II. The track has since become popular by Aussie trekkers, normally completed in 5-10 gruelling days. The previous year, John Hunt had set the record for traversing the track in 22 hours in the inaugural race, run by Kokoda Trekking Ltd. Two other Aussies had also made the trip over for the second running of this event, brothers Bryan and Sean O’Hara. They had run the previous year and were keen to do a little better as they had gotten lost last time. This was my first time on the track and I was a little unsure what I had gotten myself into. I was travelling as light as I could while also remaining self sufficient. I was carrying a backpack full of enough muesli bars, carboshotz gels and electrolyte drink mixes for 24 hours, basic first aid kit, map, spray jacket, head torch and camera – I was still a tourist after all. We were running from the south to the north, passing 8 checkpoints (CP’s) along the way where officials with radios, water and basic food would be stationed for 36 hours.
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