|
What's on tap for Walters in 2008? Something cool
Staff Writer With the 2007 Kinship Wellness Challenge - and 100 fewer pounds - behind him, what does Gary Walters have in store for 2008?
"I can't tell you what we're doing next year," Walters said Thursday at FitQuest in Baxter, where he met his goal of losing 100 pounds in a year for Kinship Partners. "We have something planned, we have something to do but I can't say what it is."
Walters did offer a few hints. He said that with the 2008 challenge, he was going to try and take the focus off himself and put it on mentoring in the Brainerd lakes area.
"I've had a wonderful five-year run. I don't know what else we can do just as a one-person deal," Walters said. "I think we'll try something that's record-breaking, something cool."
Even Kinship Partners Executive Director David Downing was in the dark on 2008's challenge.
"I saw a little smirk and then I was told we have an idea and that's all they're going to say," Downing said. "They won't even share with me yet what they're thinking about."
For the 2006 challenge, Walters swam across Lake Mille Lacs. In 2005, he walked the length of the state of Minnesota in 17 days. In 2004, he camped out for more than a week on top of Brainerd's historic water town at South Sixth and Washington streets. In 2003, he biked from Baxter to New Orleans.
How do they compare? Walters said 2008 was by far the most difficult challenge.
"Obviously, the water tower was physically less demanding. I think I actually gained 10 pounds on that one. The swim was physically the hardest for me because I'm not a good swimmer. But losing all this weight over an entire year? I wouldn't have done it if it hadn't been for Kinship," he said.
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.
|
