The Weekly Walk: Stories to Inspire You

This week, we want to introduce you to Evelyn Murcia. Evelyn is the events and outreach coordinator for BikeArlington. Evelyn loves bikes. She grew up in Arlington and has been interested in bikes for as long as she can remember. Through the Earn a Bike program with Phoenix Bikes, a local nonprofit bike shop, she learned to become a top-notch bike mechanic while still in high school. Evelyn seems to intuitively know what needs fixing on a bike—sometimes just by looking at it. She also teaches adults to ride. In her spare time, she does cyclocross racing. She en...

This week, meet Vera Punke. At 106, Vera is one of Arlington’s oldest residents. We were fortunate to be able to interview Vera about her long and full life. She’s operated her own business, raised children, and moved from Florida to Arlington, where she now lives at The Jefferson residence for older adults, not far from her daughter. Vera has outlived all four of her husbands and endured her share of hardships. The driving principle of her life? Always look forward, never look back.

This week, we want to introduce you to Tim and Celia Miner. Walking factors prominently into their life together. The couple participate in volksmarching, a type on noncompetitive social walking that originated in Europe in the 1960s. Together, they founded the U.S. FreedomWalk Festival: a three-day annual walking weekend that takes place in mid-October.

In our recent conversation with them, Tim and Celia recalled their first meeting 25 years ago.

This week, we want to introduce you to Charmaine Jones, a registered dietitian and owner of Food Jonezi, a consulting practice specializing in nutrition counseling and education, wellness and prevention, menu planning, and nutrition analysis. Charmaine spoke with us about her career path and her mission to help women make healthier choices.

This week, we want to introduce you to Pam Van Hine, a resident of Arlington County’s Aurora Highlands neighborhood, a retired medical librarian, and a tireless advocate for pedestrian safety in the County. She’s also passionate about marathons. Now 73, Pam ran her first marathon at the age of 54.

This week, enjoy some fitness tips from Marianna Cardozo, the Arlington County Healthy Living Program coordinator and an ACE-certified health coach. Marianna approaches her practice from the perspective that health and well-being should be self-defined and self-determined, with an emphasis on developing intuitive, compassionate, and trusting relationships with ourselves. She believes that “All bodies are good bodies,” and we all deserve to feel safe and empowered in ours.

Today, we’re sharing a 10-minute guided mindful walk that you can do anytime, anywhere. We’ll focus on breathing, feeling, and reflecting on our environment. Simply walk out your door and follow the prompts on the recording to practice mindfulness while walking.

When Lynn Borton and Kate McCauley met, they were two moms who visited the same playground after school each day so their kids could “get the wiggles out.” On one of these meetings, Kate told Lynn she had recently given up running. Lynn asked her if she’d like to go for walks together instead. Twenty years later, they’re still walking buddies. Find out the secret of their long-lasting friendship.