Imagine lacing up your favorite sneakers and walking to Houston, Texas.  That's a total of 1,080 miles....just walking.  Now imagine, lacing up those same sneakers, and walking 1,080 miles inside a shopping mall.  That's just what one man in Aberdeen, South Dakota has done.  But it wasn't just for fun, it was also for his health.

Bob Trapp, a three-year resident of Aberdeen, has logged 1,080 miles over the past year, taking laps around the Lakewood Mall.  As part of the Walk For Wellness Program offered by the Lakewood Mall and Avera St. Luke's Hospital, Trapp has a couple of reasons for walking.

In 1996, Trapp was diagnosed with prostrate cancer.  His doctors told him that it would be in his best interest if he started walking.  So that's just what he did.

The Walk For Wellness program is a free program in conjunction with Avera St. Luke's Hospital in Aberdeen.  Participants are encouraged to get started by picking up a packet and then start walking.

Inside the packet is the map with the route that the mall-walkers are encouraged to follow.  The walkers must walk around the Lakewood Mall two times to log one mile.  Then, after the walker has completed their trek, they log their miles on a sheet which is then collected by Jeanine Severson, a cardiac rehab coordinator at Avera St. Luke's Hospital.  Severson keeps an accumulated total of miles walked for each participant.

The wellness program also offers free education services to those participating, often talking about diet and the health benefits of walking.

Trapp, a former high school principal at Hecla-Houghton High School in Hecla, South Dakota, often has the company of his wife, Karen, while he walks.  Along with the support of his wife, Trapp also jokingly says,

My dear wife will not let me have dinner unless I walk at least 3 miles.

Because Mr. Trapp means so much to all of his former students of the Hecla-Houghton school district, I know that each and every former student, (including myself!) are continuing to wish him only the best...and another 1,080 miles!

Mr. Trapp Yearbook
Tammy/KIKN
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Source:  Aberdeen News

 

 

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