Six summits success for Mental Health Foundation fundraiser

Laura had lots of supporters on the fundraising weekend. Photo / Supplied

Thames personal trainer Laura Peacock, 29, not only tackled six local summits back to back as a fundraiser for the Mental Health Foundation, she even finished 11 hours ahead of schedule and raised more than $7500.

On March 27 and 28, Laura completed Pinnacles Summit, Mount Te Aroha, Wairere Falls, Mount Karangahake, the Hakarimatas and Mount Pauanui - back to back. Instead of the scheduled 30 hours, it took her 19 to complete the challenge.

"It was epic. I was already ahead of schedule when I finished the first summit," she says.
Before the fundraising event, Laura had had about 50 messages from people letting her know in advance which summit they wanted to tackle together with her.

"I knew about a group who told me they would come to Pauanui for the last summit at 8.30am. But I had already finished that by about 3.30am. I didn't want to let them down, so after I had a shower, some food and a nap, I went back to Mount Pauanui and walked it a second time."

Laura Peacock finished her six summits for mental health challenge way ahead of schedule. Photo / Supplied

Laura says she put her early finish down to good nutrition and training. "I dedicated three months to the summits, training seven days a week - my legs were ready. Also, my partner Hayden [Hulley] has been an amazing support, driving me to all the places, and he made sure I was eating and drinking enough in between."

She says there was a good group at each summit supporting her, some people she would see even a couple of times. Although some of her supporters couldn't walk up the summits, they came to cheer Laura on as she walked up and when she came down.

"I had three people doing all six summits with me, two of them were members of my gym TCA Fitness Club. The other one was a stranger to me, but he had heard about my challenge and wanted to join in."

Through her fundraising event Laura met lots of new people. "Heaps of people shared their personal mental health stories with me on the day. That again showed me the importance of the message 'It's okay not to be okay'."

With her challenge, Laura has raised over $7500. "My target was $6000. I am blown away by the generosity of the community and my supporters, and would like to thank everyone who got involved and supported me and my cause."

Although Laura has finished her challenge, her givealittle page is still open for donations for another week. You can find it here.