Karoline Hanks is a true force of nature who proves that passion and purpose can move mountains, or in her case, “Everest” them! Her latest endeavour saw her conquer her very own “Chappies Everesting Challenge” to maintain Noordhoek’s remaining wild spaces.
Cape Town, South Africa (08 July 2025) – With a heart that beats for worthy causes and a passion for trail running, Karoline Hanks has immersed herself in what she loves to call “fRUNdraisers” over the past decade. She has taken on several unique and, quite frankly, extreme challenges to support those who do so much for those in need and our environment.
Think the Western Leopard Toad, running to support turtle hatchling rehabilitation, funding the tracker for Bob the turtle, as well as for a food garden in Masi; Karoline has run the distance for it all, and she has no plans of slowing down.
Good Things Guy caught up with the adventurous do-gooder fresh off her Chappies ‘Everesting’ Challenge, which entailed ascending and descending Chapman’s Peak 13 times, to the equivalent height of Mount Everest (8,849m).
“I have had the idea of doing Everesting for a few years, and finally this year, it came to fruition,” Karoline says.
“Chapman’s Peak is literally my backyard. I love running the trail – it is one of the more technical, challenging single-track trails in the Deep South.”
Despite Cape Town’s inclement weather over the past few weeks, Karoline managed to find a gap to commence her summit from Monday morning on 30 June and completed it in 31 hours later on Tuesday, 1 July.
Her incredible feat was all to better and beautify Noordhoek through Project Noordhoeked, a community-funded initiative she has managed for eight years, which focuses on retaining the ecological integrity of Noordhoek’s remaining wild spaces.
“We clear invasive alien plants from the wetland and mountain slopes, collect ocean plastic off the beach, have done a lot of trail rehab, built horse steps to prevent dune erosion and also built a dune rehabilitation fence down at the beach.”
With the funds that Karoline has managed to raise through her latest fundraising challenge, she and her team hope to tackle the large forest of Rooikrans on the Noordhoek side of Chappies.
“They are a fire risk and also threaten the biodiversity of the mountain,” Karoline explains.
Karoline underwent vigorous training in the months leading up to the summit, including hill work and elevation on Chappies to familiarise herself with the route.
“Physically, I was well prepared and thankfully had no injuries or pain during the run. Emotionally, I felt pretty calm and confident throughout the challenge.
“I always knew that it was important to get over halfway to really relax into it and know that I would be able to complete it. When you have a fundraiser behind a run, the pressure is always there to complete it. A form of accountability, if you will.”
In addition to some upbeat music and the insanely beautiful surroundings, Karoline also had company on some of the tougher night-time laps to help her see her mission through to the very end.
“One has to always remind oneself that being able to do these things is a huge privilege and that I can only be grateful to be healthy and able to move in these mountains,” Karoline reflects.
With her mission now successfully complete and her incredible target of R80,000 for Noordhoek met, Karoline is both relieved and elated!
“It definitely helps build confidence and stamina and faith in oneself to know that you can take on a crazy challenge and complete it.
“I am also really happy with how the fundraising has gone – I have reached my target and will be closing the back-a-buddy campaign soon.”
Good Things Guy celebrates this local hero who not only pushed herself to the limit with grace but also did it for a cause that will pour directly into our fauna and flora, creating lasting positive change for generations to come.
by 