Burning Holes in the Soles of their Shoes by Jeff Meiners
What would you walk 500 hundred miles for? Better yet, could you walk 500 miles? Of course, not all at once, but eight people have recorded at least 500 miles of walking or run- ning in the last 7 months in our walking club chal- lenge to raise money for charity. In fact, some
Tom Balch
Matthias Kemmeren
Dan & Jared Stumpenhorst
people have put in substantially more than that amount and are still going strong. They have each earned $1000 to be contributed to their favorite local charity and more importantly, have taken some huge steps to improving or maintaining their own individual health. Congratulations to Tom Balch, Matthias Kemmeren, Joan Meiners, Randall Calvert, Anne Wege, Jared Stumpen- horst, Stephen Osborne and Jason Carter. Accumulating those numbers over that period of time required them to be quite devoted while being out in bad weather, walking in the dark, encountering a few sketchy people, fending off some less than friendly dogs or watching out for numerous wild critters while managing more than a few aches and pains. All have their own individual stories of pain and gain, but most would say it has been nothing less than an empowering experience that has turned into a part of their normal life. At the extreme end of long distance endurance, a recent event featured Crest employees Matthias Kemmeren running a 100 mile race and finishing in the 23 hour range, Jason Carter running a 50 mile race and Jared Stumpenhorst running a 40 mile race…yeah, they actually did that! Tom Balch has also taken the discipline of walking for one’s health to a whole new level while producing some amazing improvements in his health metrics by logging some impressive miles. If some are thinking that walking long distances is only for the young folks, know that while Tom’s not exactly ready for the nursing home, it’s prob- ably been some time since anyone has called him young man. In the past 7 months, he has walked over 1500 miles…yep, 1500 miles. That means that he has averaged over 7 miles a day during that stretch of time. He has devoted around two hours a day to health and fitness pounding the streets of Ashton or the hallways of the Mills and Petrie Building to accomplish his goal. If you know Tom, interesting things just seem to happen to him and that trend has continued during his long hours of walking. He’s a great story teller, you should ask him to share some of his adventures. Only Tom can do justice to the telling of his encounters…being chased by a skunk – hav- ing a van follow him on a deserted road only to realize that it was an older couple that thought he looked like he needed help – being scared by a statue of a fireman that had been moved to the hallway of the Mills that he was walking in while it was very dark. Take the time to pat Tom on the back for the work he has done, or better yet, join him for a walk around town. A total of 83 people have walked or biked for a combined 20,000 miles to earn $27,341 for their favorite charities so far this year and we still have five months to go! Even more important is the combined health benefit of all those steps it took to result in so many miles. Congratulations to all involved.
January, February & March 2022 Crest Ink 5
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