The problem was widespread, so to speak: general pigging out. The solution was simple: walking it off. The results: far beyond what anyone ever imagined.
It all began two weeks before Christmas. Debbie Lapinski, president of the Parent-Teacher-Student Association for Holabird Middle School, was the host of an executive board meeting at her house, "and we all just totally gorged ourselves. We said, 'We should go walk the halls.' "
It dawned on them that they had a great idea -- form a walking group. After all, the school was open in the evening for parks and recreation programs.
Principal Henry Wagner agreed to let walkers use the building three nights a week from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. for eight weeks. "We're always looking for ways to bring our community into the building," he says.
To get maximum benefit from walking, they decided to contact Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center for health information. "We didn't want to just say, 'Go walk,' " Lapinski says. "We wanted information on heart rates and exercise." Not only did Bayview provide information, but the community relations coordinator also offered to send speakers and someone to check the walkers' blood pressure once a week.
The group mapped out a course through the hallways, and agreed that if it got 30 walkers, the HMS Hallwalkers program would be a success.
More than 100 walkers registered.
That was Feb. 1. About 50 people started walking each night, and the program was extended to 10 weeks. Plans are under way for the HMS Hallwalkers to gather again next winter.
Walkers range from children to seniors. Whole families walk together, and a group from a local TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) chapter comes.
Five laps around the hallway course equal one mile, and on one recent night, 65-year-old Barbara Joyce and 51-year-old Joann Vincent, who have done nine laps, debate doing one more to make it an even two miles. Off they go for the last lap.
"I like that it's inside" -- through smooth, safe, clean hallways -- said Joyce. Vincent, who stops off on her way home from work, likes the convenience and the safety.
Stanley Rajewski, 78, had bypass surgery and aortic valve replacement three years ago. Normally, he walks on the track at Dundalk High School, but "I can't get out in the winter." He does 10 laps each visit.
"They amaze me," Lapinski says. "I'm lucky if I get my mile in for the night." Of course she's busy registering new walkers, and making sure others log how much they've walked.
Pub Date: 03/21/99