Walkin’ the Suburbs

Annual walking race is singularly focused on fitness

EEvery year, walkers of all ages crowd the streets of New Albany on a midSeptember Sunday morning.

The eighth annual New Albany Walking Classic is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. Sept. 16 in Market Square. Participants can choose either the half-marathon (13.1 miles) or 10K course (6.2 miles).

The event draws 3,000 participants each year; add to that the number of interested onlookers, friends and family members cheering them on, and it’s a veritable ocean of people.

Amidst that ocean each year are New Albany resident Leslie Fox and a handful of her family members. Since she first participated in the Walking Classic in 2006, the event has been a family affair for her. Fox, 47, started walking on her own every morning shortly after her youngest child was born seven years ago.

“I had six children in 12 years, so I’d never exercised other than pushing a stroller,” Fox says. “I decided to start walking because it helped alleviate the stress of having so many kids so close together.”

She walked every morning, first with music – and then, when her music player broke, in silence. The quiet of the New Albany multi-use trails made them a haven for her. Eventually, she added a stop at Starbucks about three quarters of the way into her daily walk.

“I walk three miles to Starbucks and get coffee, and then I walk maybe a mile home. It’s a great motivating factor,” Fox says.

She occasionally walks with her children, such as her youngest son, Eli, or her second-oldest daughter, Abby. This year, Abby will probably be participating in the Walking Classic with Fox, and Fox's youngest daughter, Samantha, will be part of the kids’ walk. In years past, Fox’s mother, Linda Rogovin, has also competed, but this year a knee injury will prevent her from joining in. Other family members who have competed before and may join in again this year are her brother, her father, her father-in-law and her uncle.

“It’s been a big family thing,” Fox says.

Fox and her family are prime examples of the types of people the Walking Classic draws, race founder Phil Heit says.

“The demographic that came with the walk was unique and totally unexpected. It’s 80 percent women, and the average age is mid-40s. That’s been consistent every year,” Heit says.

“With that demographic, it really sends a message to me that (these) people want to be treated as athletes and wanted a venue in which they could be an athlete and feel like an athlete. We get everyone from Olympians, who will walk at a seven-minute-per-mile pace, to recreational walkers, who will walk at a 20-minuteper-mile pace.”

Walking is a great lower-impact sport, making it ideal for all ages. Heit himself turned to walking as an exercise outlet after he could no longer participate in his previous sport: running.

“I was a very competitive marathon runner who, for various reasons, was not going to be running marathons anymore, but I wanted the competition and I wanted to be able to engage in endurance sports, so I started walking,” Heit says. “And people started walking with me.”

Out of that impetus, the New Albany Walking Club was born, and the race was a natural extension of the club.

Heit is not surprised at the enthusiastic response to the race from walkers all over the country.

“Everyone asks me that, and (the success) is what I expected. That’s why I did it,” he says. “What I am surprised about is what it has led to.”

He’s talking about Healthy New Albany, the nonprofit organization that was started – with help from the New Albany Community Foundation – as a result of the race.

“So now, from the Walk, we have what is perhaps the largest farmers market in central Ohio and, I feel, the best,” Heit says. “We have community gardens, we have a lecture series, and we have Healthy New Albany Magazine.”

Though the walk is not focused on charity, 100 percent of its proceeds are donated to charity, including a health endowment fund within the community.

“Our emphasis, unlike other walks or runs, is not on charity. We feel people should be donating to themselves. It’s for promoting their health,” Heit says.

In that spirit, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center has stepped up this year, becoming the Walking Classic’s first title sponsor.

Awards from Tiffany’s will be given to the first three men and women finishers in the 10K and half-marathon, and every walker who crosses the finish line will receive a special award.

The Walking Classic is open to everyone ages 13 and up. Children ages 6-12 may sign up for the children’s fun walk.

Registration for all races can be completed online at www.newalbanywalkingclassic.com. Walkers must pick up their information packet at the Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts from 4-8 p.m. Sept. 14 or 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 15. A photo ID is required at pickup.

By Lisa Aurand