Long-distance walks lead to fitness, friendship

Long-distance walks can be leisurely, allowing participants to connect with their surroundings, their thoughts or fellow walkers. They also can be just as challenging as running a marathon or cycling a 100-mile century. 

“People kind of relish it in a way that it's a tough thing to do. And once you're done, it's a communal thing - even if you don't finish … There’s a certain spirit behind it,” said Paul Kiczek, New Jersey-based founder of the FreeWalkers, a long-time partner of the East Coast Greenway Alliance that organizes non-competitive, long-distance walks ranging from 5 to 50-plus miles.

As a teenager, Kiczek covered 38 miles of a planned 50-mile route inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s 1963 physical fitness challenge. Approaching age 60, Kiczek wanted to make another attempt at a 50-mile walk in 2010. Alliance staff supported his effort, local news coverage led to 50-plus people joining Kiczek’s walk and the FreeWalkers was born. 

Kiczek’s aim was to encourage “people to walk as an alternative exercise and [it] caught on.” To date, thousands have participated in the FreeWalkers’ mostly free events, including walkers from as far away as California, Oregon and Europe. Alliance Executive Director Dennis Markatos-Soriano joined the FreeWalkers’ Kennedy 50-Mile Walk in 2019. This event drew walkers from 21 states and three countries in 2020.  

On April 23-24, the FreeWalkers, in partnership with the Shorewalkers and the East Coast Greenway Alliance, will host the Old Town Alexandria Greenway Walk, covering 38 miles of the East Coast Greenway from College Park, Maryland, through Washington, D.C., and Alexandria, Virginia, to Mount Vernon.

"We are excited to meet new people, and reconnect with friends from our previous walks,” FreeWalkers President Risa Olinsky said. “Our team looks forward to highlighting this section of the Greenway, and promoting the benefits of the traffic-free route. We can’t wait to experience the historical points of interest along the way, and to celebrate everyone’s accomplishments each day.”

Over the past decade-plus, FreeWalkers events have inspired many, from local walkers to multi-day adventurers. 

Special education teacher and single mother Chana Finver started walking at her doctor’s advice. “I had to be there for [my children], I had to be there for myself,” she said. 

Finver walks twice daily: 4 early morning miles on the track before school and afternoons at Roosevelt Park, an East Coast Greenway segment in Edison, New Jersey. “I prefer the Greenway over the track because of the aesthetics of it, its diversity and just meeting other people,” Finver said. 

After slowly building up her mileage, Finver credits the FreeWalkers with pushing her walking to the next level - a 27-mile walk. “What gave it more momentum, I believe, was the FreeWalkers and their mentality … of walk what you can and walk at your own pace,” Finder added. “And I said, ‘you know what? Maybe I can do this.’"

The FreeWalkers also fostered the friendship of Ken Kurland, Loredana Delucchi and Nancy Jonap, who went on to walk every step of the East Coast Greenway route from New York to the Canadian border over a series of summertime adventures. 

“The East Coast Greenway was exactly the kind of thing I was looking for,” said Kurland, who lives in close proximity to the Greenway in the Bronx, New York. 

On the third of a series of four FreeWalkers events stretching from New York to New Haven, a fellow walker found a Canadian penny shortly after Delucchi had stated, “Wouldn’t it be nice to keep walking to Canada?” From that point, the journey to return that penny to Canada was on. 

Four years later, Delucchi brought that penny back to Canada after reaching the northern terminus of the East Coast Greenway. This summer, Kurland and Delucchi - joined by Kiczek - will resume their journey in Canada on the Coastal Link Trail, which connects with the East Coast Greenway in St. Stephen, New Brunswick.

“I like the idea of doing it on my own two feet - not having to depend on something mechanical, like a car or even a bicycle - and just doing it totally on my own,” Kurland said. 

For those who are new to walking, Finver offers some simple advice: “One step in front of the other, and go at your own pace, both in the sense of how much you do and the speed that you're at.”

Kiczek also suggests starting slowly: “Get out there and enjoy it for a short walk and see if everything works and see if this is something that you're interested in before you start committing something bigger.” 

Interested in tackling one of their walks, long or short? Visit freewalkers.org for the organization’s top 11 tips and much more.