People join walking clubs for all sorts of reasons. Some do it for health or to keep in shape. Some want the social interaction. Others just like to stretch their legs.
Omaha presents plenty of walking club opportunities.
They can be tied to a specific place, such as the Henry Doorly Zoo or Lauritzen Gardens. They can be attached to schools, neighborhoods, churches or service organizations. Companies and business groups sponsor clubs.
Groups such as Nebraska Wanderfreunde Trailblazers, the Omaha Walking Club or the Omaha Hiking Club can offer adventurous routes.
Some, like the Heart & Sole clubs, are directed by a health agency. In this case it's Alegent Health.
Although the clubs are open to the public, most of the participants in Heart & Sole have joined on a doctor's recommendation, so health specialists are on hand when walkers are participating in its clubs at Westroads Mall, Shadow Lake Towne Center, Lakeside Hospital and Council Bluffs' Mercy Hospital.
Maggie Sweigart has been with the Alegent program since 2008 and coordinates Heart & Sole. She is available while people are walking to take blood pressure, offer encouragement and hand out health information.
The program is certainly affordable. Ten dollars gets you membership for life.
Did you know one circuit around Westroads is a quarter-mile? Members of Heart & Sole know that, and many of them wear pedometers to know how many miles they cover.
The Westroads club boasts about 90 members. On a recent morning, before the mall was open for business, several walkers were there. Everyone was walking at his or her own pace.
Viola Brannen, 85, said she tries to walk every day. She lives close to a park and enjoys walking outside, but some days it's easier for her to walk indoors.
“The club keeps me on track,” she said. “I have a hard time pushing myself. The pedometer helps. You can see how you're doing.”
Brannen hasn't let her age or two knee surgeries hold her back. “Too many people my age sit around and complain.”
Another club member is Jack Frost, 78, chairman of the MUD board of directors, who has been walking to keep fit since 1988.
“I knew it was healthy,” he said, “but camaraderie is a big part of it.”
His fellow walkers call him the jokester of the group and look to him to keep spirits high.
Shirley Bower was walking with her daughter Sherlynn Ambler, who was visiting from Wichita, Kan. Bower, 88, said she has been walking for exercise for a long time. She also likes the social aspect and making friends with the other walkers, something cited by almost all the participants that morning.
Across town, the Henry Doorly Zoo walking club meets every Friday morning. The club is for zoo members who are 50 and older. They arrive a half-hour before the zoo gates open to the public.
A recent cloudy Friday drew about 30 walkers, who set off at their own pace along their favorite routes through the zoo. It's a terrific way to get exercise, but it may not be to everyone's taste. This club walks year-round.
Betty Dieter, who has been a member for six years, said she walks in all kinds of weather. “Once it was 15 below,” she said. “A couple of weeks ago, it was pouring rain.”
Nancy Goy, who was walking with Dieter, said this is the only walking club for her because she loves the animals. Goy cares for an invalid husband so the walking is a needed break for her — a chance to do something for herself.
Dolores James and Rita Traynor walked with James' daughter, Terri Sammons of Virginia. They stopped at the giraffe exhibit.
“It's great before the crowds come,” Traynor said.
Many area schools or their PTA and PTO organizations have started walking clubs for children and their parents. Sometimes it's a quick walk around the school grounds in the morning before classes. Sometimes it's an after-school program.
At La Vista West Elementary School, for example, second- through sixth-graders meet before school every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning, said physical education teacher Nate McCabe.
“We're lucky because we have a route around the school that's a little over a mile,” he said. “We don't have to cross any streets.”
About 65 to 70 kids sign up each year, he said, but usually a core group of about 30 show up every day, especially once the weather starts turning bad. McCabe said they walk unless the wind chill makes it too cold.
“It's a good way for the kids to work off excess energy” and get ready for the day's classes, he said.
Contact the writer:
444-1067, carol.bicak@owh.com
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