What do you do for fun and exercise when a virus holds you hostage at home, and going to work and school are intermittent, if not non-existent? You Walk Across America, of course! That is what the Highland Health/Fitness Ministries Committee (HHFMC) invited Highland Church members to do. “We talked about a variety of things to encourage healthy living, but were limited since we weren’t able to gather together,” said Iris Clute, leader. The committee members suggested walking across America. Member Nichole Beck found a website, worldwalking.org, already set up for that purpose. It takes at least five participants to form a team. Individuals may join, but they are put on a random team. The Highland members formed a team, Highland Walkers.
The walk began January 1, 2021, with 13 regular walkers. Their steps were entered on the website worldwalking.org, which also converts biking miles to steps. It added the steps and mapped the team’s progress. It is 5,932,665 steps, or 2,500 miles, from Savannah, Ga., to San Clemente, Calif. Highland Walkers reached San Clemente on March 7, 2021. “It helped being part of a team, even if we weren’t together. We encouraged each other and challenged ourselves to keep up and keep going,” Clute said. Diana Drusky said, “I enjoyed the walk very much. I checked our progress every night, and I’m very surprised at how fast we made it with so few people.” Stephanie Thornton added, “It went so fast. I enjoyed it. I checked our progress often, and I liked the group aspect.”
The next event for the Highland Walkers is a two-team race down the Pan American Highway, a network of roads starting in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, running south, and ending in Ushuaia, Argentina. It is known as the longest road in the world because it connects two continents north to south, approximately 35,292,325 steps, or 30,000 miles.
Kentucky-Tennessee | June 2021
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