How fit do you need to be for Te Araroa?
Less "fit", more durable. Five things you should be able to do before you set off.
By Nathan Gee, BSc Sports Science, Peaksted coach · 5 min readYou need to be durable, not an athlete
Here's the honest answer: you don't need a big engine or a fast parkrun time. You need a body that can carry a pack all day, recover overnight and do it again, for months. Plenty of very fit people struggle on long trails because they've trained for speed, not for that.
- Before you go: comfortable with full days carrying a loaded pack
- On repeat: able to do two or three of those days in a row
- Up and down: big hills with a pack, without wrecking your legs
- The rest: your fitness keeps building on the trail
Five benchmarks before you go
Practical tramping tests, not lab tests. If you can already do these with your real pack, you're in good shape. If not, each one shows you what to train.
- Walk 6 to 8 hours with a loaded packTime on feet and pack capacity: the daily reality of the trail.Not yet? Build your long walk and bring the pack in early.
- Do it again the next day, and the day afterMulti-day durability: recovering overnight is what finishes Te Araroa.Not yet? Start training on back-to-back weekends.
- Climb a big hill with your pack at a steady, talkable paceAerobic base and uphill capacity for the ranges.Not yet? Add a weekly hill or stair session with your pack.
- Come down that hill without your knees or quads complaining the next dayDownhill durability for long South Island descents.Not yet? Add slow step-downs and controlled descents.
- Stay steady on rough ground when you're tiredStrength and balance under load on mud, roots and river beds.Not yet? Two strength sessions a week, including single-leg and trunk work.
All five: you're ready to sharpen up. About 12 weeks of focused preparation is usually enough.
Two or three: you have a base. Give yourself around six months.
One or none: start now, start gently, and build up with shorter multi-day sections first.
- Walk 6 to 8 hours with a loaded pack
- Do it again the next day, and the day after
- Climb a big hill with your pack at a talkable pace
- Come down without your knees complaining the next day
- Stay steady on rough ground when you're tired
These benchmarks are coaching judgement, not an official standard. For a score across all seven capacities, take the free readiness check.
What each one needs for Te Araroa
- Aerobic baseLong, steady days without running yourself into the ground.
- Time on feetFull days, every day, for months. The foundation of everything.
- Uphill capacityThe Tararuas, the Richmond Range and the South Island passes, with a pack.
- Downhill durabilityLong, steep descents on legs that are already tired.
- Strength baseStability and control with a heavy pack on rough ground.
- Pack capacitySeveral days of food on your back between South Island towns.
- Multi-day durabilityRecovering overnight, again and again. The defining demand.
New to the seven? The 7 capacities every trekker needs explains each one.
Where most people fall short
It's rarely the heart and lungs. It's the pack and the repeat days. Fit people turn up with plenty of engine and not enough durability in their feet, tendons and back. If you only fix one thing, fix that: loaded walking, back to back, built up slowly over months.
Somewhere in between?
Most people tick some benchmarks and not others, or have an old injury that changes what "ready" looks like. Working out what to prioritise for you is the part we do one to one.
How Peaksted coaching works →How fit for Te Araroa: questions
Do I need to be super fit to walk Te Araroa?
No. You don't need to be an athlete. You need to be durable: able to walk full days with a pack, day after day, and recover overnight. That's a different thing from being fast or having a big engine.
Can I walk myself fit on the trail?
Partly, especially southbound, where the North Island eases you in. But arriving unprepared is how people pick up the overuse injuries that end their walk in the first month.
I'm a runner. Am I fit enough?
Your engine is probably fine. What runners usually lack is the pack, the feet and the downhill legs for months of loaded walking. Test yourself on the benchmarks above with a full pack.
How long will it take to get there?
If you can't yet tick most of the benchmarks, plan on around six months. If you already tramp for days with a loaded pack, about 12 weeks of focused preparation is usually enough.
