How far can you walk?

[likelysuspect]

Thread running at the moment about a child walking to school. People are not only seemingly horrified at the thought of the child walking, but also the mum doing the walk twice, as she is walking with him. I'm not asking about that Thread or child per se but you and your child.

In one go i can do about 5 miles, not fast, would probably take me 2 hours. Once I've had a rest I could probably then do the same again. I can easily walk 3 miles in about 50 minutes

It depends on the weather - there’s rarely a day that doesn’t have a couple of ok hours in it - and what else we’re doing. We got into the habit during Covid when it was a sanity-saver even on just local paths. We’d both just got our first Apple watches for Xmas, completing the circles was a nice bit of motivation.

Thats probably The Gurkha challenge. I've done it several times. 100km which is about 63miles.
It's in a team over 30 hours. It's really tough!!

A 100km walk in one go would be more of a test of tolerating sleep deprivation than the actual physical walking.

You would have to be running rather than walking over that distance.

Cross country dog walk I usually cover 6-7 miles easily. I don’t do much else for the rest of the day though.

Probably Gurkha challenge on South Downs. I've done it & it's really tough.
It's in a team & over 30 hours.

I think if you genuinely walked rather than ran that distance on your own the sleep deprivation would get you before the physical effects of walking did!

Depends if it’s hilly/rough terrain or on a flat path - but I could definitely do a couple of miles, more on the flat

I'm 30, I'm quite overweight but I enjoy walking and regularly do 6-8 miles without a problem. I think I could probably do a lot more if I wanted to or had to. My eldest who is nearly 7 did 6 miles without complaining the other day and she enjoyed it. We don't have a car. I grew up in the countryside but live in London. We used to walk to and back from school for miles by ourselves.

I have had arthritis since I was 17 which massively curtailed my walking, though I was coping with difficulties at uni it was when I moved home that things went bad. I stuck on loads of weight and could hardly walk to the bus stop just down the road. During lockdown I started small, as I was just desperate to get out l, and I built up my walking. I’m still massively overweight but losing it slowly and walking more than I’ve been able to do since I was a teenager (I’m 40). I have been on a few walking holidays in Yorkshire and it takes me nearly all day just to do 4-5 miles but I am proud of how far I’ve come especially considering my arthritis is not completely under control. It’s been tricky as when I have a flare up it’s so painful and then it puts me off for a while, but I know that each time I go away in the summer and I’m doing sustained walking I’m able to do more and go further and cope better with hills and that is a great incentive.

people with dogs tend to walk more i imagine
and if you are overweight it can be difficult and painful on the joints.

I’m 60 until about 2 years ago I could easily hill walk 10 miles and cycle 20 miles but I had a serious back injury and was also diagnosed with heart issues. Seemingly mild but still being investigated. I can do 5 miles on the flat easily still. I couldn’t walk more than a few steps when I did it. Had 4 months of intensive physiotherapy. Last year I managed two thirds up The Watkins Path up Yr Wyddfa, Snowden, was slow going. There is a world of differece between hill walking and walking on the flat.

I am retired now but in my lunch hour I used to walk for 45 minutes round the campus I worked on. Until I had DS I used to cycle a 10 mile round trip to work.

In our family it’s a joke that a Mum short walk is anything up to an hour and to not trust her.

I used to have to walk 2 miles to school, quite rural area and when younger and fitter I have walked 21 miles in a day hill walking. I know plenty of people that can’t be arsed to walk anywhere. My neighbour used to drive to the local shop that’s 5 minutes away. They used to laugh at how I would walk in to town.

I’m about the same as you OP. I’ve a dog so I walk daily. I do get bored after about 4 hours though. I’d opt for a half day hike then big pub lunch and a nap than a full day hike with packed lunch.

Time is often an important consideration.

I walk dogs for a living so most days I walk around 7-8 miles, which works out to around 16-18k steps. Some days it's more (Wednesday last week I did 9 miles, for example, which was over 20k steps).

I was raised in a family that did a lot of walking though, I'd done Helvellyn and Scafell Pike before age 10, for example.

About 20 - 50 meters on a good day.

In that kind of situation I would be more concerned with the time it is taking than the distance walked - I can walk 5+ miles in one go without issue but I wouldn’t have that kind of time to spare just for a school run.

For kids I would be looking at big picture - sure they can walk for a mile or two with minimal complaining but are they gonna be tired for a morning PE lesson immediately after that. Is it going to be too much for them to do it after a busy school day when they’re hungry and emotional.

As far as I need to.

I used to run to work and walk home, 4km each way, every day, rain or shine. For 3 years. Shower at work obviously.

i think I would probably be stopped by blisters before fitness levels made me stop.

I walk 6 or 7 miles fairly regularly and that's with a narrowed artery in my leg.

I think it would be way worse if I didn't walk regularly to keep the blood flowing.

I don’t drive and we purposefully bought a house close to amenities like work and school. Daughter walks to school every day and we both walk to work. It’s definitely parents that are lazy and passing that lifestyle onto their kids. Getting ready to walk to school is no different than getting them ready to drive them. Even children pick up on it, mine knows kids living closer but get driven.

on an average day I do around 15000 steps as it’s an active job.

Personally I can’t think of anything worse than sitting in a car constantly.

I can walk the 2.5 miles to work without problem, takes 45-50 minutes, mostly depending on traffic lights at pedestrian crossings. I can walk further, I don't often. I have been having knee problems lately, which was initially caused by a twisted knee on a 26 mile hike in mountains over 25 years ago.

If you have no health conditions, walking 3 miles in an hour shouldn't be a problem at all, and secondary school children shouldn't have a problem doing that as their way ro get to school, if it's a safe route.

This particular child has SEN severe enough that the secondary school in question is a specialist SEN school.

I’m mid 60s. I did a hilly, eight miles on moorland last week. I could probably manage ten.

I'm 54 and bike 9 miles a day for work commute then walk 2 miles after work with the dog.
4 years ago I left work at 1pm, pushed my bike home then carried on walking. Home by 8pm, 20 miles. Used to regularly walk between 5 and 8 miles a day. Ive got arthritis in my knees and hip and achilles tendinitis so am a bit crocked now but on weekends away could manage 10 miles i guess.
I dont drive and work opposite shifts to dh so had to bike or walk most places with dd. Bus if too far so as a 4/5 year old she would regularly put some miles in.
She's 19 now and drives and barely walks anywhere!

I have never thought about it. I assume I could walk for as long as was needed.

I love walking and feel I 'could' manage a ten mile walk quite easily. I'm fact being on holiday last week and walking up these very steps from the beach weighing 4.5 stone lighter than this time three years ago when I nearly passed out with the exertion I found it incredibly easy! I also did a lot of walking round towns and through National Trust forests and valleys and found it a doddle this time round. Hail WLI ❤️

But not everyone can live close to work eg the people who work in city of London, there is a fair few of them. I sometimes drive my dc home from school, a 20 min walk. It’s because I’ve driven home from work & school is on the way home. On my early days I drive home past school & then walk back & home with the dc.

Same, but sadly the only specialist SEN school that had a place for my son is 22 miles away, so it’s a bit far to walk.