Everyone knows that walking is a great way to get gentle exercise while offering your mind a break from the internal toil of everyday life.
On top of all that, it can offer an important opportunity to socialize and see all the majesty of nature that surrounds us here in the mountains.
Jasper’s most recent cold snap offered an excellent demonstration of how important going for a walk is. It was way too cold for seniors, parents with young children and dogs and everyone to be outside for longer than a few minutes. The sidewalks are frequently dangerous with ice anyways.
The same thing is true in the heat of the summer, especially with intermittent forest fire smoke blowing through town.
“I've run in 47 C, and I've run in -47 C. I don't love it to put it mildly,” said Kim Stark. “For seniors and mobility-limited people in wheelchairs … imagine right now trying to get moving in snow and ice. It'd be horrible.”
The avid runner is also an avowed advocate of walking. She recently put the idea to municipal council to explore the concept of establishing an indoor walking track.
“There seem to be a lot of positive thoughts from that; however, not a lot of other people have asked or talked about that,” Stark said.
Her mission is to build a groundswell of local support in order to move the momentum forward. She needs more people to back her up. She has spoken with the seniors’ club and the schools to get their support. After all, there isn’t an outdoor track for students to do sports.
She has already done her homework on the issue as well.
“I did a little research on longevity and ‘blue zones’, and all this sort of stuff. There's a really high correlation between physical activity and communication and socialization,” she said. “Instead of just being by yourself walking on a treadmill, you get to walk with a group of friends and those benefits just multiply.”
For now, she has received the municipality’s agreement to allow walkers to enjoy the Multi-Purpose Hall at the Jasper Activity Centre. Anyone can join in the Walking Group on Mondays from 10 a.m. to noon, Wednesdays from 2 to 4 p.m., and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
The indoor walking space is free on a drop-in basis. People are only asked to sign in and wear clean, non-marking indoor shoes.
