We are walking east now in places like Garner and Clayton, but commuting back and forth to Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill for events. The good news is that Kathy Higgins and I hit the 350-mile mark this week, and on a personal note I weighed in at 20 pounds less today.

What is the bad news? We'll there's really no bad news, except that the beautiful, scenic mountains that surrounded us during the early weeks of the Million Step March have been replaced by scenes of Belk, Verizon, Williams-Sonoma and Dairy Queen stores. Do we really need to see strip malls, specialty stores and BBQ restaurants? Well, maybe the BBQ places!

The best news is that the area stops we've made (and will continue to make for a few more days) have been some of the best of the campaign. "The March" is in full swing now and it's clear that we are connecting with many, many people.

Following the halfway point "Rally in Raleigh," we made stops at places like Structure House, a live-in facility for morbidly obese people in Durham. It was a chance to take my personal message and the message of the Million Step March directly to people who struggle with weight and the staff who treats them. We also did some stops at various Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina locations where they cheered on one of their own – the simply unstoppable Kathy Higgins.

At WakeMed Hospital just today, I walked into a standing ovation and one of the sweetest crowds yet. Not bad when you haven't even said anything, right? Our group walks at all of our event stops have been a big hit as well. Dr. Don Bradley, who has been walking with us for over three weeks now, has been actually leading these walks – Kathy and I are saving our energy for the road.

We'll have video highlights of many of our stops very shortly. In the meantime keep your own health goals going, and keep on marching!

Posted by Gary Marino on May 9, 2008