They're Walking for the Health of It

When Gloria Dock of Temple Hills, Md., started walking with the Iverson Mall Walkers in 1994, she was looking for some activity and a way to get in shape. Since then, she's gotten more than she bargained for.

Dock has lowered her bad cholesterol and triglycerides, shed a few pounds, lowered her blood pressure and, according to studies, decreased the likelihood of dementia as she ages. She also gets to spend time with several hundred of her closest friends three times a week.

See also: Iverson Mall Walkers slide show.

Iverson Mall Walkers Joyce M. Shaw, left, and Peggy V. Edwards, keep pace with each other. — Photo by Matt Roth

Dock's mall group in Hillcrest Heights, Md., is a walking advertisement for the first Every Body Walk! Week, Sept. 19-23, a national project by health provider Kaiser Permanente to get America up and moving. The event is part of Kaiser's Every Body Walk! online educational campaign, which promotes the benefits of walking.

Dock's group, which started in 1989 and now boasts more than 450 active members, gathers to walk in the mall three mornings a week. It also participates in several charitable walks in the Washington, D.C., area, including those for the CJ Foundation for SIDS and for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

Dancing is part of workout

Dock, a retired federal government worker, first took note of the walkers during her shopping excursions to the mall. When she retired years later and wanted a way to stay active and get in shape, she decided to join the group.

Not being a wallflower, Dock wanted to contribute her talent for organization to the walkers' efforts. "I love people," she says. "I've always been a take-charge kind of person, so I asked if there was anything I could do to help."

They took her up on her offer. She became assistant coordinator for the group in 1995 and coordinator in 2005.

"We have slow walkers and fast walkers," Dock says. "And after the first mile, we do the Electric Slide [line dance] … and that counts as a mile, too."

Being a part of the group gives several of the participants the motivation they need to lead more active lives.

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