Elysha Futterleib of Killabakh and Will Steggall of Wherrol Flat, both 25, will next month embark on Wild Endurance 2009, a gruelling 100-kilometre trek through the Blue Mountains as a fundraiser for the Wilderness Society.

Elysha and Will are part of the team Rock Wallabies which is complemented by Matthew Rocholl of Lismore and Jeff Keenan from the USA.

Team members travel together on foot through rugged wilderness and stop at three check-points along the route where support crews resupply teams with water, food and clothing.

Each participant also has the additional challenge of raising a minimum of $400 per person for the Wilderness Society’s Wilderness Fund.

“We’re not putting ourselves through this for nothing,” Elysha smiled.

“We believe in the cause.”

Elysha and her team mates are passionate about the great outdoors and believe in the important work the society does in protecting areas of environmental significance.

“As an outdoor person and a bushwalker, I’m against land clearing and I want (the Wilderness Society) to save our outdoor spaces,” Elysha said.

The race will be run over May 2 and 3 and must be completed in 48 hours. The Rock Wallabies want to complete the trek in less than 35 hours, which will involve running for part of the distance and walking non-stop through the night.

Elysha has never taken part in a long-distance run before so she has engaged herself in an intense training program to prepare.

She wakes at 5am every morning to get in a run or mountain biking session before work, often in the beautiful Yarratt Forest, near her Killabakh home.

Training together has been a struggle for the team.

Elysha has never even met her team-mate Jeff, who will be flying in from the US the day before the event, while Matthew lives in Lismore.

Elysha and Will find time every weekend to complete training walks of six hours or more.

On top of work and training, Elysha is also a part-time uni student at the University of New England where she is studying for a Bachelor of Science in Botany and Zoology.

You can contribute to the team’s fundraising efforts online at www.everydayhero.com.au/ the_rock_wallabies

You can also follow the training progress of each competitor on their weblogs.