MANSFIELD — Six years ago, Jonathon Stalls of Denver, Colorado, got the urge to walk clear across the U.S from the east coast to the west: 3,030 miles on foot.
It took him 8.5 months, led to hundreds of chance encounters and unexpected adventures, and left him determined to share his positive experience with others. The experience made him a celebrity.
Last weekend, Jonathon came to Mansfield to meet, walk and talk with the community and kick off a new local group called ‘Just Walk Richland.’ I followed him around town to see what it was all about.
I was curious to hear what he had to say, being a walker of long-standing myself. I’m not a hiker or a rambler or a fitness walker, but I do like to get about under my own steam with the freedom to wander.
The first event of the weekend was a “Walk & Talk” at OSU-Mansfield. A good-sized crowd was in attendance at Riedl Hall, and before leading us outside for a stroll Jonathon told us about his mammoth coast-to- coast trek.
He’s a friendly, easy-going kind of guy, and he needs to be: he stayed with 120 strangers during the course of his journey. All, he says, without “a single bad hosting experience,” a testament to “the hospitality that lives within our people.”
His walking odyssey followed a loosely-plotted route, allowing for incidental adventure and spur-of-the- moment detours. This was not a hike that stuck to established trails and nature paths.
“I wanted to get to know the towns, the in-between-the-towns, the urban, the rural,” Jonathon told us, “and walking is the best way to do it.
“When someone says ‘Ohio’ now, I have feelings and emotions connected to that. I got to know the land and understand my country.”
He explained how, for this weekend, he arrived in town early to walk around the area.
“I’ve walked miles around Mansfield and Richland County, and it’s been so enjoyable.”
The next day it was time to put some of this into practice. At 7 a.m., about 20 of the enthusiastic and the curious gathered at North Lake Park for a ‘Sunrise Walk.’ Our route took us around the lake and along a section of the B&O Bike Trail.
To illustrate different kinds of walking experiences, the first part of the walk was conducted without conversation, allowing for quiet thought and contemplation. Although meeting people and talking with each other is a big part of what Jonathon is trying to encourage, he also tried to emphasize the value of thinking at 2-3 mph, a natural human rhythm, he believes, for letting thoughts drift slowly through the mind.
I’m in complete agreement with this. Nothing clears my head and lets thoughts bubble up like a walk through the park, where the only thing that dictates my pace and direction is my own mood.
Later that day, Jonathon held a session at Mansfield Public Library to expand more on his walking philosophy and provide some informal training for potential walking leaders in Richland County.
He broke down the different kinds of walks that local groups can offer: ‘Fitness’, ‘Conversational’, ‘Gentle’ or ‘Exploratory,’ with the categories based on speed and the objective of the walk. He stressed the importance of letting people enjoy the walk in their own way.
“Make it clear that it’s OK to hang back a little from the group if you want to. Not everyone wants to talk all the time,” he said, explaining that this flexibility allows introverts to feel more comfortable.
To show that it’s not just about nature trails, Jonathon took the group out of the library for a walk around the surrounding streets, emphasizing the need for walk leaders to be particularly watchful at crossings, since those following a group leader will tend to let their guard down and pay scant attention to traffic.
Walking around as a group on the streets, you can’t help notice what a novelty this is … so much so that we get the occasional toot on the horn from passing cars.
As a frequent pedestrian I’m used to this. I regularly walk the two-mile trip from my house to downtown and ‘shout-outs’ from passing motorists are not unusual; sometimes they are even coherent.
At moments like this I consider myself an ambassador for walking, and always give a friendly wave back, even when I suspect the garbled comments are less than complimentary.
I think of walking as an assertion of individuality and in this time and place, there’s almost something subversive about it. It’s a lot easier on foot to get off the beaten track.
Back at the library, the group talked about some of the ideas they had for Richland County walks. These included more challenging walks such as a complete circuit of the 18-mile bike trail, cold-weather winter walks, and ‘exploratory’ walks with a local theme.
The first of these took place that very afternoon, an eye-opening historical walk of downtown Mansfield focusing on Pre-Civil War-era architecture.
“It’s great that you have people here ready to lead walks,” said Jonathon, “but not everyone has to be a leader. You can be an advocate in the community. Go on group walks, spread the word, and go walking on your own. Spin a bottle and walk in that direction, see where it takes you!”
If you want to get involved in group walking, visit www.meetup.com/JustWalkRichland online, search for “Just Walk Richland” on Facebook, or contact Ashton Grigley of Richland Public Health at 419-774- 4773 for more information. Walks are already being planned and new ideas and local involvement are strongly encouraged.
