8-Week Walking Challenge

Week 8: Born to Ride

This week, meet Evelyn Murcia, BikeArlington’s outreach and events coordinator. For as long as she can remember, Evelyn has loved bikes. When she was very young and didn’t have a bike, she remembers waiting for her older sister to go to school each day so she could ride her bike while she was gone. In high school, Evelyn linked up with local nonprofit Phoenix Bikes. Through their Earn a Bike program, Evelyn learned how to refurbish a bike for her own use. Today she rides frequently with her family and participates in cyclocross racing. She enjoys fostering a love of cycling in her young daughter.

Week 7: The Secret of a Long Life

This week, meet Vera Punke. At 106, Vera is one of Arlington’s oldest residents. We were fortunate to be able to interview Vera about her long and full life. She’s operated her own business, raised children, and moved from Florida to Arlington, where she now lives at The Jefferson residence for older adults, not far from her daughter. Vera has outlived all four of her husbands and endured her share of hardships. The driving principle of her life? Always look forward, never look back.

Week 6: A Walking Love Story: Tim and Celia Miner

This week, meet Tim and Celia Miner. The couple met and fell in love 25 years ago on a walk. To this day, walking continues to factor prominently into their life together. Both participate in volksmarching, a type of noncompetitive social walking that originated in Europe in the 1960s. Together, they founded the U.S. FreedomWalk Festival: a three-day annual walking weekend that takes place in mid-October. Organized walking has taken Tim and Celia all over the world and led to some impressive athletic accomplishments.

Week 5: Nutrition and a Healthy Lifestyle

This week, enjoy some nutrition tips from Charmaine Jones, a dietitian and nutritionist. She is also the founder of Food Jonezi, a consulting practice that specializes in nutrition counseling and education, wellness and prevention, menu planning, and nutrition analysis. Charmaine knows that food is a personal matter for many people, and that it can be hard to change long-established habits. She gives advice on taking baby steps toward making better choices on how you eat.

 

Week 4: Anything Is Possible

This week, enjoy the story of Pam Van Hine, a longtime Arlington resident and 17-time marathoner. Pam and her husband, Brian, ran their first marathon together when she was 54. At the time, she recalls that they were “totally unathletic.” But they got hooked on the thrill of distance running, often raising money for a cause they believed in. Now 73, Pam is still running marathons.

 

 

 

 

Week 3: All Bodies Are Good Bodies

This week, enjoy some fitness tips from Marianna Cardozo, the Arlington County Healthy Living Program coordinator and an ACE-certified health coach. Marianna approaches her practice from the perspective that health and well-being should be self-defined and self-determined, with an emphasis on developing intuitive, compassionate, and trusting relationships with ourselves. She believes that “All bodies are good bodies,” and we all deserve to feel safe and empowered in ours.

 

 

 

 

Week 2: A 10-Minute Guided Walking Meditation

Join us on a ten-minute, guided mindful walk that you can do anytime, anywhere. We’ll focus on breathing, feeling, and reflecting on our environment. Simply walk out your door and follow the prompts on the recording to practice mindfulness while walking. It will bring greater peace to your day.

 

 

 

 

Week 1: A Life-long Friendship Forged Through Walking

When Lynn Borton and Kate McCauley met, they were two moms who visited the same playground after school each day so their kids could “get the wiggles out.” On one of these meetings, Kate told Lynn she had recently given up running. Lynn asked her if she’d like to go for walks together instead. Twenty years later, they’re still walking buddies. Find out the secret of their long-lasting friendship.