Throughout the Million Step March, Kathy and Gary are joined by a guest walker from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. Tom Robertson, resource/technical manager in Information Services at BCBSNC, joined the walk last week between Fayetteville and Wilmington, and gave us this report from the road:
There are a few things one learns very quickly when beginning a walk on an open country road: Look out for very big, very aggressive dogs; don’t pet the snakes crossing the road, and 18-wheelers can create hurricane force winds.
Oh yes, it is hot and sticky and the sun is relentlessly beating down. As each day becomes a little hotter, a little longer with temperatures reaching 100, we’re marching along, talking about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.
Everyone we meet along the way looks at us quizzically and asks the same exact question: “What are you doing?”
“Well,” we say, “We’re walking from Asheville to Wilmington.”
“Why on earth would you want to do that?” they ask.
It is then one comes to realize the not so obvious part of the Million Step March. This walk is more than just one foot following another. With each step, one becomes a part of a much larger picture – a picture painted in the shared imagination of Kathy Higgins and Gary Marino, the walking man.
The team of Kathy and Gary imagine a world where everyone is healthier, happier, and feeling better than they did yesterday. They’re walking to prove it. How cool is that?
They don’t ask for money. They don’t ask for anything. Their request is quite simple: Just walk, go as far as you can and then go a little farther. You will feel better, you will probably live longer, you will be happier and you might just hear yourself laughing. I learned that if walking is good, walking with Kathy and Gary is better.
I’m glad my “get up and go” got up and went walking this week, for 40.23 miles (that’s 102,885 steps if you’re keeping track). After all, I won this chance and wasn’t about to waste it wondering why I’m out in the woods walking the five hottest days of the year. This walk is a meditation, a vision of winning a healthier me earned one step at a time. You can win too.
We all can’t walk with Kathy and Gary but you can take them with you when you decide it’s time to go walking. These two have given a new meaning to “walking the walk.” If they can walk 600 miles, I’m sure you can walk one or two or perhaps even 10. It’s so simple.
For today, I’m glad to be walking with them, watching their commitment in real time while strolling down the country roads and picking up the pace to put a little distance between me and the last curious dog. Thank you Kathy, thank you Gary, thanks to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. The Million Step March really matters.
Tom Robertson
Posted by BCBSNC on June 10, 2008