On January 15th, a few members of the Rotary Club of Kelowna Sunrise set out on a virtual walk across Canada. As time moved forward, additional members joined the walk. In the face of the ongoing pandemic, the group was looking for a way to stay connected as a club, keep its spirits up, and provide a unique way to remain physically active.
Virtual walking is a group focused activity that adds up the cumulative steps of a team wishing to get from Point A to Point B. On March 6th, with 50 club members of all ages aboard helping the collective effort, the Kelowna Sunrise group completed its first 12.8 million step (8,800 km) journey in St. John's, Newfoundland.
Along the way members were treated to historical information at each major virtual milestone. In addition, Google Street view integrates with the World Walking software to allow a 360-degree observation of the collective group's exact location along the route. This makes it interesting to see scenic areas. The software works on a smartphone app, or from a home computer – both are free and easy to setup.
Members add their own steps through integration with Fitbit, iPhone, or Android devices. There are also plenty of group features: upload a photo walking your dog, leave notes on a message board for your Rotary groupmates, and participate in a live leaderboard between group members for a bit of fun intra-group competition.
Currently, the KSR group of 51 participants is taking on another challenge, this time tackling an epic trail across six continents, virtually walking across the world, a walk that will take the group from South Africa to the United Kingdom, a total of 132,082,056 steps.
The virtual walk, aptly called the Icons of the World, began on top of Table Mountain in South Africa and will end at Skara Brae in Northern Scotland.
On April 16th, the group had reached 11 percent of its goal, passing by Meroe, Sudan, famous for its ancient pyramids, and on the verge of entering Egypt.
The purpose of the activity is not a competition; it is simply to get active. Club members contribute steps as they can, with a noteworthy few adding significantly more.
Virtual walking is made easy thanks to free software created by World Walking. It is a small, UK based non-profit that promotes cardiac health. Joining and creating a private group for your business, organization, family or local Rotary Club is easy.
Original Story created by club member Stu Lang for Rotary District 5060, and then modified and updated by Ed Kolybaba for this website.