LIFE & STYLE
Sonia and Todd trek
for Soldier On
Sonia and Todd Young with Zane Duce from Soldier On .
with Matt Austin
Lots of people in life often sit around their house and decide that they might go for a walk . Maybe a walk to the shops , or the local sporting fields , or maybe even to clear their heads . But not many people decide that they want to go for a walk from Bligh Park to Port Macquarie ! But Sonia Young did , and it was all for a very good cause .
Sonia is the proud grandmother of three young boys and had been working on the idea of doing a charity walk for over 12 months after participating in a charity walk by Soldier On .
The idea started with a walk to her mum ’ s house in Kurrajong . She then felt like she wanted to help raise funds and awareness for services that Soldier On Australia provide to returned servicemen , servicewomen and their families . The organisation offers services and equipment that might be needed to help their integration back into society after serving in the Australian military .
Soldier On Australia has about 30 staff . Sonia ’ s experience and interest in giving back and doing an incredible walk to fundraise came after years of seeing her stepfather return from military service in Vietnam as a conscript .
Sonia had overcome obstacles in the past , so planning and executing the enormous walk from Bligh Park to Port Macquarie was literally a breeze for this inspiring lady . She had undergone a body
Sonia and Todd make the 450km trek to Port Macquarie .
transformation in 2021 which saw her drop an amazing 23 kilos . She walked 15,000 steps each day and surrounded herself with positive people that helped provide the building blocks to achieve her goals .
It was also one of the crucial elements that helped her and her husband , Todd , to be able to push on and achieve the very commendable target of 450km walking and some 500,000 steps .
It wasn ’ t all plain sailing either for the pair who started their walk to Castle Hill on day one in sweltering Sydney heat that saw the temperature rise to a challenging 38 degrees . This would have challenged even the most hardened and experienced professional walkers . However , a strong faith and belief in Soldier On and training with regular daily 15,000 step challenges equipped Sonia and Todd with the tools to overcome all obstacles .
Sonia believes having a positive mentality plus having uplifting people around you enables you to achieve anything that you set your mind to . One of her favourite sayings is , “ Be an encourager . The world has enough critics already .”
She has taken up karate with her oldest grandson , Landon , at GKR Karate in a consulting role and is looking at doing more challenges in the future with the Hawkesbury Canoe Classic ( an overnight challenge ), and the long-term goal of walking the Kokoda Track .
Sonia and Todd said the key to their walk ’ s success was enjoying the exercise and actually walking together . They knocked over 13km of walking before breakfast one day and another 32km in an eighthour period .
Sonia encourages anyone who wants to do something like this to break it down into smaller more achievable goals first up . This could be tackling small walks every day and once accomplished , see them as a path towards the bigger goal . She is also a firm believer in being accountable and motivated , and this leads to success in anything you undertake .
THE HAWKESBURY INDEPENDENT theindependentmagazine . com . au ISSUE 167 // APRIL 2024 13