Incoming Transport Minister Simeon Brown urged councils late last year to scale back walking and cycling projects. He suggested they were a waste of money. I was dismayed because, bang for buck, walking is the ultimate exercise to improve health and wellbeing. More, not less, should be done to encourage it.
For the past two years, I’ve been running the Walk1200km challenge, in which participants (about 4700 last year) walk 1200km in 12 months. Daunting? Maybe, but it’s not that onerous: it means walking an average of 100km a month, or 3.3km a day (most can do this within 40 minutes). The challenge has helped thousands of people, myself included, make walking a daily habit.
But what makes walking so special? For starters, it’s the most accessible exercise – it can be done anywhere by anyone. All that’s needed is shoes and walking attire.
There’s also a huge body of research that points to numerous health benefits. Besides the obvious fitness gains, regular walking has been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease. It improves the health and strength of bones and muscles. Long term, the risk of cancer, particularly of the breast and bowel, can be reduced.
Walking, especially in nature, releases endorphins into the brain which reduce stress and muscle tension. It lowers the heart rate and blood pressure. And it’s tiring, so we sleep better.
Medical professionals accept the benefits and now offer patients a “green prescription” that encourages walking over medication as a means to recover from injury, diseases like cancer and diabetes, mental illness and depression.
Through two years of walking, I have felt the benefits first-hand, as have thousands of other Walk1200km participants.
When Jade Bell’s partner died of pancreatic cancer just three days before they were to celebrate their 18th anniversary, loneliness and grief made it difficult for her to sleep and navigate her day.
“Walking provided me with a daily sense of achievement,” she says. “The physical activity helped me sleep better at night, improved my general health and, amazingly, I discovered that I never felt lonely while out on a walk, even though it was often the most physically isolated part of my day.”
Rebecca Jago started walking after losing a friend to suicide. “I was in a bad place mentally and physically, but the hours of walking and thinking have helped me deal with grief.”
I’ve noticed people’s attitudes to walking change when given the motivation to do it. Some participants now walk to work, others do the school run on foot. Says Lynne Walker: “Walking has changed my mindset. Now, I choose to park the car further from a destination and walk there without grumbling. I love the mix of catching a bus or train and walking between stops and destinations.”
New mum Gael Price found parenthood and walking go well together. “You don’t have to turn up to a class at a specific time, and it doesn’t matter if you haven’t slept,” she says. Walking with her newborn in the pram improved her mood and supported her recovery from a caesarean section.
Shirley Keen could barely walk 500m a couple of years ago. She realised that with the progression of her arthritis and her weight, if she didn’t do something she “literally wouldn’t be able to walk”. She has lost 25kg and walked on more than 405 consecutive days.
These comments demonstrate why more walking, not less, should be encouraged. No one ever regrets going for a walk. But many often wish they didn’t have to drive, arriving at their destination stressed and tired. No number of road projects seems to solve that problem.
Alistair Hall is the editor of Wilderness magazine. Learn more about Walk1200km at wildernessmag.co.nz/walk1200km.
