Walk Bike Crawl Whanganui's first community event, a beach walk from Kai Iwi to Castlecliff, was a roaring success with about 200 people getting off the couch and active.
Jessica Allan set up a Facebook group to organise events "for the average couch potato to get away from the screen and into the beautiful outdoors".
"I like going on walks but I wanted people to go with and when I looked on the internet for walking and cycling groups they seemed a bit intimidating and for serious competitors and fit people," Ms Allan said.
"So I thought I'd set up a group and see if other people wanted to join me. I didn't expect such a huge response. I thought it went really well. There was heaps of positive feedback after Sunday's walk and everyone enjoyed themselves.
"We aren't massive athletes. We sweat, we stop to rest and we can't always walk and talk simultaneously. It's just about having fun and accomplishing it for your own feeling of satisfaction."
Ms Allan is planning a range of events to suit different abilities and ages.
"They will be mostly walking, biking occasionally and crawling if you have to to get to the end.
"It could be a walk around Gordon Park Scenic Reserve which is wheelchair accessible or it could be the Atene Skyline walk which I'd love to do. It's up to people to decide for themselves what they are capable of doing.
"It's free and healthy and there may be an opportunity to help other organisations on occasions."
People who took part in the beach walk were invited to make a donation to the Castlecliff surf club building project.
"As part of the preparation for the event, I contacted all the emergency services and the Wanganui Surf Life Saving Club to let them know what was happening because I wanted to make sure everyone stayed safe," Ms Allan said.
"Surf Life Saving were fantastic and gave me a radio so I could stay in contact with them during the walk. So I decided to ask people to give a donation to them because they don't get any funding for their building."
Sunday's walk raised about $200 and Ms Allan asked others who were unable to donate on the day to consider making a contribution via the club's bank account. Details are Wanganui Surf Lifeguard Service 03-0791-0406567-000 with 'Donation' as the reference.
The group's next walk will be on the Westmere Walkway on Saturday, January 27. Like and follow Walk Bike Crawl Whanganui on Facebook to get updates on future events.