One, two, three, four…

Step after step. Step after step. Thousands of steps are adding up into millions of steps  all in one tiny town across Kachemak Bay.

Despite the odd spring weather, the roads and beaches of Seldovia have had a little extra traffic — not from vehicles, but pedestrians. 

In March of this year, the Seldovia Village Tribe, or SVT, launched a nine-week walking challenge. Participants were given free pedometers and asked to log their steps each day. 

Nearly 80 people signed up. In Homer, that would be impressive. In a town of 250 people, it was astonishing. SVT has organized walking clubs in the past, but never with so much involvement and motivation.

Although some people have dropped out because of health or unexpected circumstances, a solid 60 are still participating. At the end of each week about 45 have been turning in their total steps. They are then entered into a drawing for a weekly prize.

In just one seven-day block of walking, participants logged two-and-a-half million steps, or about 1,150 miles. 

Laurel Hilts is the Prevention Program coordinator for SVT and the person who totals all the steps each week. To ramp the program up a bit, Hilts said that SVT added the weekly drawings to give incentive to participants to turn in their steps. 

Gift cards for Amazon, a massage, an acupuncture session and even a set of dumb bells have all been awarded to diligent walkers.

By having weekly contact with participants to find out their steps, Hilts said she is also able to give consistent, positive feedback and encouragement to people.

Although Hilts had started walking on her own about a year ago, by week seven of the program she had increased her walking by an hour a day.  “I feel great, I have more energy and I’m losing weight,” she said.

The ages of participants range from 12 to 83, so there is a large variation in the amount of walking people are able to do. Hilts said that SVT doesn’t post total steps for individuals, because they don’t want to make it seem like a competition.

Instead, it is up to individuals to challenge themselves, and Hilts notes that there is value in whatever participants do — whether strolling or power walking. 

With a positive response all the way around, Hilts said people are enjoying getting outside more and are in better health. 

“When you know other people are doing it, it certainly helps,” she said.

An added sense of community has also grown out of the program, as walkers see each other and pause to chat for a minute. Hilts says that people will stop her on the street and say, “I’m getting my steps in!” 

One person, who broke her hip earlier this winter, called Hilts to say she was walking around on her deck to get steps in as part of her recovery.

“I don’t have any participants who are unhappy,” said Hilts. 

Seldovia resident Judith Lethin says she was thrilled to learn of the walking challenge, because it was something that anyone in the community could get involved with.

At age 70, the grandmother of nine says good self-care is important to her. 

“I just jumped in with two feet,” she said, of joining the challenge. Lethin started out doing about 5,000 steps per day. Now, she is up to about 6,000.

By getting outside to walk, Lethin said that people are reminded that they are part of something bigger than themselves.

“I think it builds quality of life for the whole community,” she said. “I think it’s a really good thing for everybody.”

Lethin has also noticed an increased community interest in other health programs like “Healthy Chatter” — a Friday luncheon centered on a health topic that can be anything from essential oils to sacral cranial massage. On a recent Friday, 26 people (over a tenth of the town’s population) attended.