GOING THE EXTRA MILE

WRITER: JAMES COMBS / PHOTO: MATTHEW GAULIN

By the time many people take their morning shower or enjoy that first sip of coffee, Kristin Hall is miles ahead of them. Literally, miles.

Six days a week, she’s up at 6a.m., donning her walking attire and pounding the pavement.

Kristin has been an avid walker for 25 years and has logged 24,000 miles. The circumference of the Earth at the equator, by the way, is 24,902 miles.

The 49-year-old Oxford resident finds few things in life as enjoyable as walking.

“It’s exhilarating and that’s why I continue doing it,” says Kristin, who moved to the area in 2009 from Jamaica and serves as director of membership at Harbor Hills. “If I don’t walk, I feel sad and sleepy.”

Because she’s spent much of her career as a hotelier overseas, Kristin has enjoyed her hobby in many unique and exotic locations, spanning three continents and eight islands. She’s walked up and down the majestic Eiffel Tower in Paris, around the architecturally stunning piazzas of Milan and Naples and in the golden-brown deserts of Oman.

Without question, though, she says walking in Oxford is every bit as enjoyable. While it lacks historic landmarks, the beautiful sights of eagles soaring overhead and cattle grazing on open pastureland make for a scenic six-mile trek. She walks 12 mph with 3-pound hand weights and a backpack that helps her stay hydrated.

“I feel so relaxed because any negative thoughts in my head are released,” she says. “Exercise is very therapeutic when life’s struggles arise.”

And for Kristin, there’s been no shortage of those struggles. In fact, the reason she began walking at age 24 was to retreat from a physically and verbally abusive husband. She was also forced to juggle a full-time career with being a single mother to her only child, Alex, who is now attending Florida State University. And between 2011 and 2013, she found herself in a “toxic relationship that was draining and fraught with heartache.”

“Whenever I felt stress in my life, I would walk with a hand-held digital tape recorder and talk myself through the difficult moments I endured,” she says. “Following the walk, I would listen to my voice on the recorder, which empowered me to thoroughly think things through and fix the problems.”

She has used those recordings to write a book that highlights her journey through various stages of life. The book, which she hopes is released by 2016, will help victims of domestic violence.

“This book is a vehicle to share my experiences with all who care to take the journey, and along the way touch anyone feeling alone or judged for the decisions they’ve made,” she says. “We are all the same. We just have unique stories of how we get from place to place.”