WTKG was kind enough to not only replay the interview today, but also provide a recording that I could post here.
The donation site will only be available for a short time, so make sure you get your pledges in soon. The Bike MS season has ended and they only leave the site up for a short time afterward.
If the site is down, please feel free to make a general donation through the MS Society's general donation site. Just leave a comment here on this blog to let me know that my walking is worthwhile!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Walking on the Air
First off, I have to thank everyone that has supported me in my goal to walk every street in Grand Rapids. If it wasn't for the support from family and friends, I would not have been able to raise $800 - $900 each year for the last five years, let alone walk the nearly 277 miles of Grand Rapids streets I have covered. I especially thank my loving wife and awesome son for the support that this crazy trip has required.
But there is so much more to do, and the more of us that get involved, the more we can achieve.
I received an email from my friend Larry Bush yesterday. Larry works for a local broadcaster, who, it turns out, was interested in my goal to walk every street in Grand Rapids. This afternoon, I went down to the studios of WTKG, Grand Rapids' Talk Alternative and met Dave Robinson. We talked about MS and the work that the MS Society is doing to support people living with MS and to support the researchers looking for a cure. We talked about walking and.... well, I recommend that you listen. Listen to "Talk of the Town" with Steve Kelly and Dave Robinson at 1230 AM from 11:00 to noon weekdays (Update: the interview will air 29 September 2011 sometime between 11:00 and noon). Or, listen live online at the WTKG website. There is even a section for podcasts, which will hopefully have the interview online.
While I do not have the exact date of the airing of the interview, I will post online as soon as I know.
Larry took my advice to share the site with others in a simple way that could have a big impact for the MS Society. Thanks Larry!
Now is the time to make a donation as I close out the final 20 plus miles for this year. Visit the Donation site by following the link at the right. While this helps me track donations for my own curiosity, the MS Society donation site is another way to contribute to this worthy cause.
Thanks again to everyone for all of the support, especially Larry and Dave! Keep sharing with family and friends!
But there is so much more to do, and the more of us that get involved, the more we can achieve.
I received an email from my friend Larry Bush yesterday. Larry works for a local broadcaster, who, it turns out, was interested in my goal to walk every street in Grand Rapids. This afternoon, I went down to the studios of WTKG, Grand Rapids' Talk Alternative and met Dave Robinson. We talked about MS and the work that the MS Society is doing to support people living with MS and to support the researchers looking for a cure. We talked about walking and.... well, I recommend that you listen. Listen to "Talk of the Town" with Steve Kelly and Dave Robinson at 1230 AM from 11:00 to noon weekdays (Update: the interview will air 29 September 2011 sometime between 11:00 and noon). Or, listen live online at the WTKG website. There is even a section for podcasts, which will hopefully have the interview online.
While I do not have the exact date of the airing of the interview, I will post online as soon as I know.
Larry took my advice to share the site with others in a simple way that could have a big impact for the MS Society. Thanks Larry!
Now is the time to make a donation as I close out the final 20 plus miles for this year. Visit the Donation site by following the link at the right. While this helps me track donations for my own curiosity, the MS Society donation site is another way to contribute to this worthy cause.
Thanks again to everyone for all of the support, especially Larry and Dave! Keep sharing with family and friends!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
I would walk 500,000 steps...
... and I will walk 500,000 more!
I took some much needed vacation last week, since our vacation plans in the past two years have kind of fallen flat. Our family decided that we were taking the time, even if we did not have plans. We managed to squeeze in a visit with my wife's wonderful cousins, go to the beach, a baseball game, and just hang out together like a family. What a great vacation.
In addition, my eternally patient and lovely wife allowed me to make some marathon walks. While logging the miles today, I discovered that I have walked over 500,000 steps. A half a million. That's a milestone that nearly slipped by for inattention to details.
In addition, some good friends have made donations at the site. Thanks so much! This is all about helping people living with Multiple Sclerosis. This disease affects 400,000 people in the U.S., particularly in northern climates like Michigan. The MS Society is a charity that makes sure much of the money goes to research and the people, so please make a donation today! If money is tight, please let someone know about this site and pass the word. It's free, but it still helps.
Thanks and God Bless.
I took some much needed vacation last week, since our vacation plans in the past two years have kind of fallen flat. Our family decided that we were taking the time, even if we did not have plans. We managed to squeeze in a visit with my wife's wonderful cousins, go to the beach, a baseball game, and just hang out together like a family. What a great vacation.
In addition, my eternally patient and lovely wife allowed me to make some marathon walks. While logging the miles today, I discovered that I have walked over 500,000 steps. A half a million. That's a milestone that nearly slipped by for inattention to details.
In addition, some good friends have made donations at the site. Thanks so much! This is all about helping people living with Multiple Sclerosis. This disease affects 400,000 people in the U.S., particularly in northern climates like Michigan. The MS Society is a charity that makes sure much of the money goes to research and the people, so please make a donation today! If money is tight, please let someone know about this site and pass the word. It's free, but it still helps.
Thanks and God Bless.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Walk Grand Rapids
Friends,
I am writing a second post today to welcome any new comers to the Walk Grand Rapids blog. This blog chronicles my attempts to raise money for the MS Society, most recently, by walking the length of every street in Grand Rapids.
So far, I have walked more than 250 miles of Grand Rapids streets to raise money for those living with MS. By the Grand Rapids City website, I have roughly 350 more miles to go. I have, in the past two years, walked 100 miles of streets each year. This year, I will cross the half way point to 300 miles.
This goal has been bigger and better than I imagined. At first I thought I would try it and share my progress with friends and family. Both the fundraising and walking has been fantastic. This year it is time to share with more people.
For longtime supporters, the blog address has changed to walkinggrandrapids.blogspot.com. I have moved all of my previous fundraising blog posts as well to this new site, so you can still find information on my previous head shaving and other fun.
Donating is as easy as ever. Just click the Donate link to go to the MS Society's donation site. I am registered as a Virtual Rider for the Michigan Chapter's Bike MS fundraiser.
Why am I a "Virtual Rider"? This all started a few years back when my friend Steve asked for help with his 20th year riding for Bike MS. I love riding my bike, but I am the kind of rider that can not ride 150 miles in two days (read - lazy). I said I would shave my head at the finish line of the Bike MS event to help raise money for Steve and his team. The response was amazing, partly because my hair was 33 inches long. That stunt only really worked for three years.
After hearing about a Philadelphian woman that walked every street in her city, I decided, though I could not ride 150 miles in two days, I could walk 100 miles each year, covering every street in Grand Rapids, my hometown. Here I am now 250+ miles later and loving every minute of it.
So, please take some time to find out about MS and how you can help. There are links to more information on the right, or dig in to this blog for some information. If donating money is not in the cards this year, please tell someone else about this blog and how they can help the MS Society.
Thanks and God Bless.
I am writing a second post today to welcome any new comers to the Walk Grand Rapids blog. This blog chronicles my attempts to raise money for the MS Society, most recently, by walking the length of every street in Grand Rapids.
So far, I have walked more than 250 miles of Grand Rapids streets to raise money for those living with MS. By the Grand Rapids City website, I have roughly 350 more miles to go. I have, in the past two years, walked 100 miles of streets each year. This year, I will cross the half way point to 300 miles.
This goal has been bigger and better than I imagined. At first I thought I would try it and share my progress with friends and family. Both the fundraising and walking has been fantastic. This year it is time to share with more people.
For longtime supporters, the blog address has changed to walkinggrandrapids.blogspot.com. I have moved all of my previous fundraising blog posts as well to this new site, so you can still find information on my previous head shaving and other fun.
Donating is as easy as ever. Just click the Donate link to go to the MS Society's donation site. I am registered as a Virtual Rider for the Michigan Chapter's Bike MS fundraiser.
Why am I a "Virtual Rider"? This all started a few years back when my friend Steve asked for help with his 20th year riding for Bike MS. I love riding my bike, but I am the kind of rider that can not ride 150 miles in two days (read - lazy). I said I would shave my head at the finish line of the Bike MS event to help raise money for Steve and his team. The response was amazing, partly because my hair was 33 inches long. That stunt only really worked for three years.
After hearing about a Philadelphian woman that walked every street in her city, I decided, though I could not ride 150 miles in two days, I could walk 100 miles each year, covering every street in Grand Rapids, my hometown. Here I am now 250+ miles later and loving every minute of it.
So, please take some time to find out about MS and how you can help. There are links to more information on the right, or dig in to this blog for some information. If donating money is not in the cards this year, please tell someone else about this blog and how they can help the MS Society.
Thanks and God Bless.
Maps
Friends, here are the long awaited maps of my travels in Grand Rapids.
This first map is from my map book and is a map of the city boundaries.
Each number represents a page in the map book. Last year, I decided that it was easiest to complete a whole page as a more satisfying indicator of progress, both for you and me. So far, I have completed two pages, with good progress toward two more. There are scattered walks on other pages from my first year and incidental walking. By the end of this summer, I will likely have completed four pages with progress on more. This will total 300 miles of walking, more than half way to the goal of walking the length of every street in Grand Rapids.
To give you an idea of the number of streets on each page, here are the detail maps of my completed pages.
These pages, 26 and 27, represent the majority of the 200 miles of my first two years. These are also possibly the most densely covered pages in the map book, along with page 29.
So, why so old school from a techie? Scans of paper pages from a map book, from a company that no longer produces maps? I have mentioned in previous posts that I find this convenient for the task at hand and here is why. There are lots of mapping programs out there, but I have found none for the kind of walking that I am doing, both in volume and logistically.
In my travels, I often find that I have to back-track, mostly as a result of the Traveling Salesman problem. More specifically, this is a special version of a Hamiltonian Cycle called an Eulerian Circuit, in which I wish to travel the length of every street. Visit the links for the geeky details, or take this less detailed explanation: It is really hard to walk a set of streets in any city and end up back at your car without walking a lot of streets twice. The simplest example is walking down a dead end street - there is only one way back. There are lots of blocks where it is possible to return to my car without repeating streets, but many more where it is not possible. The simple example most people have seen is the envelope puzzle. In this case, the circuit is possible, though may be difficult.
So, I have a paper map and a marker that help me log my walks. I do track miles in Google Maps and record them in a spreadsheet, with the name of each street walked. While many smartphone apps will also log miles, none help to eliminate the extra backtracking from the calculations. None, that I have found, has the ability to record every street walked on one map without difficulty.
I am working on a Google Map with polygons blocked off in KML, to show areas walked, but that is proving more difficult than I had anticipated. If anyone knows of a good solution for my problem, please leave a comment and I will gladly follow up.
More importantly, all of this mapping, walking and logging is for a reason: to raise money for the MS Society. Please follow the Donate link to their safe site and make a donation to this worthy cause. For the suspicious, the donate link can be validated by searching directly on the MS Society's website. I am registered as a virtual rider for the National MS Society · Michigan Chapter TeaMS in the 2011 Virtual Bike MS.
Though making a donation at my site helps me track progress and gives me incentive to continue my walks, any donation to the MS Society is great. If donating money is not an option right now, please consider passing on this website to a friend.
Thanks.
This first map is from my map book and is a map of the city boundaries.
To give you an idea of the number of streets on each page, here are the detail maps of my completed pages.
These pages, 26 and 27, represent the majority of the 200 miles of my first two years. These are also possibly the most densely covered pages in the map book, along with page 29.
So, why so old school from a techie? Scans of paper pages from a map book, from a company that no longer produces maps? I have mentioned in previous posts that I find this convenient for the task at hand and here is why. There are lots of mapping programs out there, but I have found none for the kind of walking that I am doing, both in volume and logistically.
In my travels, I often find that I have to back-track, mostly as a result of the Traveling Salesman problem. More specifically, this is a special version of a Hamiltonian Cycle called an Eulerian Circuit, in which I wish to travel the length of every street. Visit the links for the geeky details, or take this less detailed explanation: It is really hard to walk a set of streets in any city and end up back at your car without walking a lot of streets twice. The simplest example is walking down a dead end street - there is only one way back. There are lots of blocks where it is possible to return to my car without repeating streets, but many more where it is not possible. The simple example most people have seen is the envelope puzzle. In this case, the circuit is possible, though may be difficult.
So, I have a paper map and a marker that help me log my walks. I do track miles in Google Maps and record them in a spreadsheet, with the name of each street walked. While many smartphone apps will also log miles, none help to eliminate the extra backtracking from the calculations. None, that I have found, has the ability to record every street walked on one map without difficulty.
I am working on a Google Map with polygons blocked off in KML, to show areas walked, but that is proving more difficult than I had anticipated. If anyone knows of a good solution for my problem, please leave a comment and I will gladly follow up.
More importantly, all of this mapping, walking and logging is for a reason: to raise money for the MS Society. Please follow the Donate link to their safe site and make a donation to this worthy cause. For the suspicious, the donate link can be validated by searching directly on the MS Society's website. I am registered as a virtual rider for the National MS Society · Michigan Chapter TeaMS in the 2011 Virtual Bike MS.
Though making a donation at my site helps me track progress and gives me incentive to continue my walks, any donation to the MS Society is great. If donating money is not an option right now, please consider passing on this website to a friend.
Thanks.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Let the Donations Begin!
Friends,
The donation site is finally available. It is located here and on the right menu under Donate. I am registered as a "Virtual Rider" for the MS Society's Bike MS. This allows me to offer a secure donation site and the money goes directly to the MS Society.
Why donate? Having multiple sclerosis means that you may suddenly have blurry vision. Or that your memory will fail you for no apparent reason. Or that you may not always be able to walk, let alone ride a bike. The symptoms of MS are different, and devastating, for everyone - the only certainty is that it will affect yet another person every hour of every day.
I am blessed that I can walk, so I choose to use this skill, this very basic and easily underrated skill, to earn money for a good cause. The MS Society uses most of its donations wisely, making sure most of the money goes to the people who need it, and the research that will one day cure MS.
Just walking is never enough to ask for a donation. Starting two years ago, I started a goal, to walk the length of every street in Grand Rapids MI. Each year I walk 100 miles. This year, I will pass the estimated half way point, 300 miles! Up to this point, I have walked the entire northwest side of Grand Rapids and a good portion of the northeast side, with a few streets thrown in around my favorite haunts (Never counting the same bit of street twice).
This is a worthy cause. This is a wacky goal. Please consider donating what you can to help today. From $1 to $100 or more, anything is welcome.
If a donation of money is not enough, please tell your friends! Send an email, spread the word, join me in spirit and walk a mile. Whatever the task, tell others about MS and what they can do to help!
Thanks again for your support. Watch for more news coming soon!
The donation site is finally available. It is located here and on the right menu under Donate. I am registered as a "Virtual Rider" for the MS Society's Bike MS. This allows me to offer a secure donation site and the money goes directly to the MS Society.
Why donate? Having multiple sclerosis means that you may suddenly have blurry vision. Or that your memory will fail you for no apparent reason. Or that you may not always be able to walk, let alone ride a bike. The symptoms of MS are different, and devastating, for everyone - the only certainty is that it will affect yet another person every hour of every day.
I am blessed that I can walk, so I choose to use this skill, this very basic and easily underrated skill, to earn money for a good cause. The MS Society uses most of its donations wisely, making sure most of the money goes to the people who need it, and the research that will one day cure MS.
Just walking is never enough to ask for a donation. Starting two years ago, I started a goal, to walk the length of every street in Grand Rapids MI. Each year I walk 100 miles. This year, I will pass the estimated half way point, 300 miles! Up to this point, I have walked the entire northwest side of Grand Rapids and a good portion of the northeast side, with a few streets thrown in around my favorite haunts (Never counting the same bit of street twice).
This is a worthy cause. This is a wacky goal. Please consider donating what you can to help today. From $1 to $100 or more, anything is welcome.
If a donation of money is not enough, please tell your friends! Send an email, spread the word, join me in spirit and walk a mile. Whatever the task, tell others about MS and what they can do to help!
Thanks again for your support. Watch for more news coming soon!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
On the road to half way
Dear regular viewers,
This year will be a milestone on the walk. I will pass the halfway mark in miles on my trip to walk the length of every street in Grand Rapids. I have lots planned for this blog, including fulfilling promises long awaited and a few surprises.
I am waiting for setup of the Donate link, I just wanted to let everyone know that I am still walking and I have not forgotten you!
Thanks for your continued support!
Dan
This year will be a milestone on the walk. I will pass the halfway mark in miles on my trip to walk the length of every street in Grand Rapids. I have lots planned for this blog, including fulfilling promises long awaited and a few surprises.
I am waiting for setup of the Donate link, I just wanted to let everyone know that I am still walking and I have not forgotten you!
Thanks for your continued support!
Dan
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