Love to Walk – Walk to Love
“It blows my mind how Walktober changed my life. It went from being this fun activity to incorporating it into my lifestyle, and then to going on walks with my family. It led me to meet this amazing person and now we’re getting married.”
Mayira participated in her first Walktober challenge in 2023. Her great passion and determination led her to the top walker spot that year. Before Walktober, she would get an average of 3,000 steps a day. As the challenge progressed, her daily step counts climbed as she hit 7,000, 10,000, 16,000, 20,000, and eventually 25,000 steps a day. “I had set myself a personal goal of 50,000 steps in one day, but I failed at my first attempt. On my second try, I succeeded in reaching my goal.”
Mayira had a new goal for Walktober 2024, she was set on reaching 100,000 steps in a day. She did just that. “I wanted to get out there and see something new. I walked the country roads of Red Bluff, around town, and at the high school.” Mayira wore out two pairs of shoes that day and had to buy a new pair. She shared her experience on the Walktober chat, posting a picture of her new shoes and asking fellow participants, “What kind of shoes do you wear?” The hilariously self-named ‘CouchPotato2880’ (real name: Mykle), replied that he wore the same shoes and loved them. Mayira recalls how “My story of taking 100,000 steps in a day grabbed his attention and inspired him to take on the same challenge.” As it happened, Mykle was so inspired that he stepped right into the top walker spot in Walktober 2024!
Lots of workplaces use the Walktober Challenge as a tool to promote employee wellness. Mayira discovered that Mykle worked in another branch of her workplace. They ended up connecting and hit it off in a way that felt like destiny. The couple recently became engaged and Mayira challenges that, “We’re definitely going to partner up for Walktober 2025, so everybody look out. We’re going to be a real strong walking team.”
When asked about advice on staying active and building connections, Mayira highlighted her own struggles. “I’m a Type 1 diabetic with an insulin pump. I had to eat more nutritious meals in a timely manner to have energy to build stamina for my walking. The more I walked, the healthier I got, the more I wanted to walk and the healthier I wanted to eat.” She emphasizes the importance of getting enough sleep, proper nutrition, and finding a group of people that you trust and enjoy walking with. She encourages community members to slowly build walking habits and to challenge themselves in a safe way to build their love of walking. “Nowadays when I haven’t been walking so much I actually crave it and I just want to go out there and walk.”
“This was a total bonding experience for my family and my coworkers who have become my friends. It helped me make positive connections with people that I don’t even work with who had followed my journey through Walktober.”
Mayira and Mykle hope to check out the Sundial Bridge walking trail and continue to have family walks after they take one ceremonious walk down the aisle.