In 1988, Massachusetts man Brad Hathaway was diagnosed with diabetes, heart problems and other health issues. His doctor suggested that he start walking immediately, and regularly if he wanted to improve his health.
“My doctor said, ‘You better walk. You better start walking tomorrow and start walking three miles a day’,” Brad said.
“So, I did, and I mapped out the entire town.”
Thirty-two years later, Brad has walked three miles every day, sometimes getting to 10 miles in a day, and now has almost walked the full circumference of the earth. Whatever the weather, Brad was taking his daily walk. As he got older and needed some help, he would walk with his walking stick, now he heads out with his walker. But neither age nor weather would stop him from taking his walk.
Recently he stopped to calculate just how far he’s walked in his 32 years.
“Everyday I walked, I logged it on the calendar,” he said.
“I don’t think about it and I probably wouldn’t know if I didn’t keep the record.”
“Back in the ’90s I jokingly said I would probably get around the world by 2008. I never gave it another thought until this year.”
“I’m one mile to 24,901 and that’s around the earth at the equator,” said Brad.
Diagnosed with Parkinson’s 8 months ago, Brad thought he might not make it. But now, in just a few weeks, Brad plans to walk this last mile on October 3rd in an effort to raise money for the Mattapoisett Land Trust.
“There’s more than my health involved in this right now. It’s to raise as much money as I can for the Land Trust,” he said. “I’ve tried to support them financially through the years, but I thought this is the biggest thing that I can do.”
As an original founding member of the Mattapoisett Land Trust, Brad hopes that people will support him in his lap around the world so he can donate to the cause and preserve his beloved corner of Massachusetts.
