I'm 72 and recently began a strenuous walking regimen because of some lingering medical issues. I was surprised at how two months of walking has helped me bring me back into a normal medical range and I lost weight doing it.
Normally, kids would not have my incentives for strenuous walking because of their age and usual healthy condition.
But there may be other reasons why they might enjoy walking. Walking can stimulate thinking and observation as long as you are not walking on a 440 track.
Many of the 60 school projects I was involved with during my career had 10 acre sites for elementary schools, 20-30 acre sites for middle schools and even 40 acre sites for high schools. Realizing not all American schools have such gratuitous acreage, it still may be possible on the sites that do, to provide a walking trail maybe with very basic exercise apparatus around the school site and within the usual fenced boundaries of the site. This would provide a safe on-site recreational path for exercise and contemplation.
Many famous folk have had a favorite walking path for working out all sorts of mathematical, scientific or literary issues. I really feel, especially with my recent experience, the history of walking and its benefits should be brought back to the attention of our school age young people who are certainly dealing with a host of physical, economic and academic issues these days.
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Howard Partch AIA
Anacortes WA
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