Man takes 5,000 walks
|
|
| In this photo taken Dec. 9, 2011, Dave Whitehurst, 57, walks his Hickory Grove Road neighborhood in Dunlap, his 5,000th consecutive day of walking. Whitehurst started his five-mile-a-day daily walk April 1, 1998 with the hope of losing a little weight. Five thousand days and over 25,000 miles later, Whitehurst continues his effort. (AP Photo/Journal Star, David Zalaznik) |
| Buy Sauk Valley Media Photos » |
DUNLAP (AP) — Dave Whitehurst is always looking for someone to join him on a walk.
But his daily habit is much more than a jaunt in the park.
Dec. 9 marked a milestone for Whitehurst. For 5,000 consecutive days the Dunlap man has taken a daily walk, usually in the morning before work, usually on a five-mile circuit through his Lake of the Woods neighborhood.
He's gone through a number of Walkmans and countless pairs of athletic shoes in his 25,000-plus miles.
"I guess I'm like Forrest Gump," Whitehurst, 57, said Wednesday. "I started walking and I never stopped."
In early 1998, Whitehurst, weighing 300-plus pounds and spending his work days behind a desk, decided he needed a change. The longtime carpenter had worked years in the field but found that his newer lifestyle had become too sedentary.
He began eating healthier and started going for a walk every morning.
And through sickness and health, tragedy as well as jubilant times, Whitehurst has kept with it for more than 13 years.
Even when his wife, Edna, passed away three years ago, he didn't take a break. Unable to sleep, he walked through the night.
"I guess it's my release," said Whitehurst, vice president of P&W Builders and co-owner of A-Z Jewelry and Swap in Downtown Peoria. "It's alone time to kind of clear your thoughts."
While strangers are often surprised when they learn of Whitehurst's unusual track record, to friends, family and neighbors, it's just one aspect of his personality.
Neighbors wave as he zips past, as regular a sight around the subdivision as the mailman. Out and about, people often stop him and ask how they recognize him.
"Everybody knows him as the walking man," said Whitehurst's fiancee, Kathy Rupert. "A lot of them don't even know his name."
People have even told him that he inspired them to start walking.
The daily exercise has become part of him. And though he still considers himself a big man - 250 pounds at 5 feet 10 1/2 inches tall - his speedwalking has boosted his endurance and stamina to levels that many people half his age can't match.
"Even young people who try to walk with me have a hard time," he said. "They're going to outrun me. I'm not a runner, never was, don't plan to be. But I keep up with slow joggers."
While he offers anybody the opportunity to walk with him, he doesn't alter his pace to accommodate his often slower family.
"If you couldn't keep up with him, you wouldn't be going," said Hope Yount, one of Whitehurst's two daughters. "Nothing keeps him down."
He said he hasn't yet been sick enough to keep from following through with his daily commitment to the pavement.
Inclement weather is just another opportunity to improvise.
And the big snow this past February? No problem for Whitehurst, once the plow made it through his neighborhood.
"I walk through any condition," he said matter-of-factly. "Snow's not the worst. Ice is probably the worst."
Depending on the windchill, as long as the temperature stays above 12 degrees, he said, he'll wear shorts. His cold-weather walking outfit typically consists of shorts, a light sweatshirt and gloves.
Once, during a particularly ferocious thunderstorm, Whitehurst completed his daily walk through a Walmart in Branson, Mo.
"I've always found a place to walk," he said. "May not have been the most convenient, but I always find a place."
Whitehurst said he never set a goal when he started his walking routine. He doesn't have a new one.
But "I'd like to reach 20,000 (consecutive days). That would put me in my 90s."
___
Information from: Journal Star, http://pjstar.com
