Make that walk 55 kilometres long, add that you have to do it all in 18 hours, and you can remove the word leisurely. 

The Sydney Coastrek is on Saturday, March 7 is a fundraising initiative for the Fred Hollows Foundation.

The Coastrek is co-ordinated and developed by Wild Women on Top, an organisation that specialises in preparing teams of women for challenging trekking experiences.

For first time trekker and hockey player Paula Beattie, the walk will be testing in a number of ways.

“I’m used to short bursts of activity on a flat surface,” Ms Beattie said, “This walk is full of hills, stairs and soft sand.”

The heat and humidity of Sydney will also test her out.

“Thankfully we head off at 6am so we’ll hopefully get through the hardest parts in the early morning.”

As a test run, Ms Beattie recently walked from Palm Beach to Dee Why.

“By the time we got to Dee Why I realised I’m not as fit as I thought I was,” Ms Beattie said. “We had completed 25 kilometres in six hours and I was exhausted. The soft sand is the hardest. It’s easier to kind of run through it.”

Ms Beattie will be walking with three members of the Bush Lemons, a lesbian bushwalking and outdoor group based in the Blue Mountains.

“We walk in a group of four and all four have to complete the walk,” Ms Beattie said. “We all get checked at certain points along the walk as well and they’re all a lot more seasoned in walking than I am.”

When the first trek took place in 2010 $200,000 was raised for the Fred Hollows Foundation, this year the goal is $3 million.

To raise money Ms Beattie has organised a raffle in which one of the prizes will be advantageous on the trek.

“They’re called high performance socks and they’re absolutely brilliant.”