I am a walker through and through. I dislike being sweaty and out of breath unless absolutely necessary (it is necessary, I get it, but in short choreographed bursts only then thanks). Walking though… let me count the ways in which I love it. It’s pretty much universally accessible, it’s open to all in a non-threatening fashion, you don’t need fancy equipment, it can morph from ‘me time’ to ‘social’, maintains good physical and mental health and allows for mindful decompression better than anything else I know. Enough praise? Ok, enough for now. I’ll be back with more shortly.

I’ve known Julie for more than 30 years and many of my funniest memories from school involve her gags. She was not, however, someone I thought of as an avid walker. In her own words “Previously [before the lockdown], walking was not something we did very often, quite frankly out of laziness”. Lockdown, however, gave her and her daughter their daily escape from the confines of their home. “As well as clearing the mind and obvious health benefits, it had a big social impact…getting out, chatting to neighbours or fellow walkers kept spirits high. I set myself a personal challenge for the month of May to make sure I walked every day… to get the habit instilled. My daughter used it to kickstart weight loss and has lost almost 2 stone.”

My own journey with walking probably dates back to childhood when our family activity on a Sunday was getting out for a walk. I don’t think I ever saw either of my parents running and bike rides were confined to long summer evenings. Walking though, well that was every weekend, rain or shine. There was a long stretch of my teens and twenties when I lost the bug, my taxi habits in the early part of my career in London were well known and ridiculed. But the addition of a canine member of the family followed by our son pulled me back into line. The stress of juggling new parenting and a senior management position were managed by the sanity-inducing walks in London parks. Before and after work with the dog, at lunchtime with a coffee. I started commuting on foot as much as I could. I planned my day with a pedestrian route in mind. Since de-camping back to Northern Ireland, walking is now embedded in our daily routine. Yes, it’s dog-mandated, but it’s also integral to school days and weekends. A day is incomplete without a walk.