LRI’s Walking Challenge and Lincoln Highway Journey

Forgive us a moment to brag about one of our team members, Laura Wright.  Laura works with our LRIRightnow data libraries, and also volunteered to oversee our team fitness challenge. Just before the pandemic broke out, we had distributed FitBits to everyone, and created a database to track our steps and other fitness activities each week as a way to encourage each other to make health a key objective for 2020. Who knew only weeks later the pandemic would drive most people to the couch to binge on Netflix episodes?!

We started by walking west the length of Route 66, then reversed course to take on the Lincoln Highway. During that project, Laura contacted the Lincoln Highway Association to inform them of our virtual hike, and the Association chose to publish Laura’s description of our adventure in their Quarterly Journal.

Here is the article as published in the Fall 2020 edition of The Lincoln Highway Forum:

In February 2020, the company I work for, Labor Relations Institute, Inc. decided it was time to implement a Wellness Campaign for our employees. I gave a presentation about what a Wellness Campaign is and what we as employees could do to create a wellness attitude. This does not just mean not being free from illness but encompasses many aspects of life, health, wealth, emotional health, less stress, etc.

 

We decided that one way to encourage our employees in this new Wellness Campaign was to count our walking steps. So, we came up with our first Walking Challenge. Using our SmartTrackers, iWatch, and FitBits we are all able to keep track of our individual steps. As a group we would virtually walk the length of Route 66. We are headquartered in Oklahoma and many miles of Rt 66 run through our city. We thought this would be a fun way to connect as a team and also learn a little about the Route and the places we ‘walked’ through.

 

This Walking Challenge was a virtual walk, we all kept track of our steps and then converted them into miles every week. I would plot the miles on a big map we hung in the break room. It took a couple of months to complete this challenge.

 

The next Walking Challenge was your Lincoln Highway. I used your Lincoln Highway map on your website to plot the route and also used the Places of Interest in emails and zoom meetings to indicate where on the LH we, as a company, were. When we started our Wellness Campaign we were all in the office and going to gyms, parks and other recreational places to get our step in, then the Coronavirus hit and we were all sent home to work. We kept up our step tracking at home, walking in the neighborhood, home workouts, and sometimes walking in place.

 

We started at the Golden Gate Bridge on May 13, 2020 and completed the Lincoln Highway Walking Challenge this week arriving in New York City’s Times Square. Clearly, we never left our own state or city, but I now want to take a road trip on the great Lincoln Highway.

 

Some of our weekly plots were: Donner Pass, CA; Hamilton, NV; Salt Lake City, UT; Point of Rocks, WY; Cozad, NE (the halfway point); South Bend, IN; Lima, OH; North Braddock, PA; Princeton, PA; NYC, NY.

Since we were working from home we have been holding bi-weekly zoom meetings and I would use those meetings to tell the group where on the LH we were. My favorites were the Donner Pass and Cozad. For these places, I dressed up for the meetings (pics attached). At Donner Pass my character was a survivor from the party and I told a brief story of the troubles. Then for Cozad, NE, I dressed loosely like a member of the band Bon Jovi and played the song, ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ “we’re half way there”. The team loved it and now I think I might have set the bar a little high.

 

I know that we did not actually travel the Lincoln Highway but I know I learned a lot about it and the many places we ‘walked’ through. Thank you for having the map – that was a great asset. Now we at LRI are on to our next Walking Challenge.

Footnote:  In case you’re wondering, we are now following the meandering trail that travel author Peter Jenkins trekked to write the 1979 book, A Walk Across America. (Green line).