Getting fit just a walk away

By OnePaper staff

If your resolutions for the new year include an ambitious program of walking, you can put your best foot forward at a series of events initiated by the Williamson County Health Council. The Council is coordinating a free program for Williamson County residents called Walk Across Williamson.

The walks are being held on the first Saturday of each month at different parks throughout the county. Walkers arrive between 9 and 10 a.m. at a participating park; the first 20 to walk in each month receive an incentive. The January incentives are two weeks of executive training at D1 Sports Training, located near Cool Springs Galleria.

Participating parks include:

Bowie Nature Park, Fairview -- 722 acres of forest, lakes and trails. Besides walking and running, the park accommodates bicycling, horseback riding, fishing, and playing on the Treehouse Playground. The park's Nature Center is a great place to learn about what you might see on your walk; it can be reserved, as can the Outdoor Classroom and picnic areas. (7211 Bowie Lake Road; 615-799-5544; www.fairview-tn.org/bowiepark.)

College Grove Park (Williamson County Parks and Recreation) -- walking path, playground, tennis courts, baseball fields, rec center/gymnasium. (Intersection of Horton Hwy. and Arno-College Grove Road, College Grove; 615-368-2126.)

Nolensville Park (Williamson County Parks & Recreation) -- walking trail, baseball fields, playground, youth football field. (2310 Rocky Ford Road, Nolensville; 615-790-5719 ext. 15.)

Jim Warren Park of Franklin City Parks -- 58-acre park is home to the Franklin Baseball Club and Franklin Cowboys youth organizations. Walking trails, 12 baseball fields, four football fields, tennis courts, skatepark, basketball courts, picnic area, fish-and-release pond, and playground. A large enclosed pavilion may be reserved. (705 Boyd Mill Ave.; 615-794-2103.)

Pinkerton Park of Franklin City Parks -- located on Murfreesboro Road, it is the most highly used park in the park system. The Harpeth River runs along the west side of the park; Fort Granger lies to the north. Amenities include a one-mile paved pedestrian track (lighted) encompassing the park, Tinkerbell playground, three picnic pavilions, Sue Douglas Berry Memorial pedestrian bridge connecting the park with downtown. (405 Murfreesboro Road, Franklin; 615-794-2103.)

Thompson’s Station Park of Thompson’s Station -- walking trail, pavilion and playground.

Walking program participants may take any trail within the participating parks. The walks are not guided, so walkers are advised to check park maps for routes.

On April 5, Jim Warren Park will host the Walk Across Williamson Celebration. Peter Jenkins, author of the national bestseller A Walk Across America, will speak, and prizes (including an iPod Shuffle) will be given out to participants who have turned in walking logs.

The Williamson County Health Council meets monthly to address the health needs of residents in the county. The Council encourages families who talk the talk about health, exercise and solidarity to walk the walk over the coming four months.

For more information on the Walk Across Williamson program, call the County Health Department at 615-794-1542, ext. 5355, or 615-799-2389, ext. 112.

Trivia

Determined to start a program of walking this year? Here are some feats to measure your self against. Actually, you'll probably just want to sit down and marvel at them.

In 1921, on his 79th birthday, Dan O'Leary, a Chicago book salesman, walked 100 miles in 23 hours, 54 minutes.

In his 75 years as a long-distance walker, James Hocking of Teaneck, NJ covered over 270,000 miles, averaging over 10 miles a day.

Colonel Russell Farnum of New Hampshire, during the years 1812-13, walked from St. Louis to St. Petersburg (now Leningrad), a distance of 9,000 miles. He carried a 20-pound pack and a gun.

In 1887, John Snyder of Dunkirk, Ohio, walked 25,000 miles in 500 days and, when he finished, was "apparently no more tired than when he began."

Anton Hanislan, a European professional walker, pushed a perambulator holding his wife and daughter for 22 months over a distance of 15,000 miles, winning $2,000.

In 1966, Jean Pierre Marquant walked 102 miles through Death Valley, in temperatures ranging from 90 to 122 degrees. The walk took about a week; Marquant drank three gallons of fluid a day.

In 1941, a walking contest was staged between Finland and Sweden. The contest was to see how many competitors could walk about 10 miles at the rate of 4 miles an hour. Finland won by qualifying 1.4 million walkers, to Sweden's 1.1 million.