Beech Fork State Park's Nature Trail is an easy 3/4 mile loop.

Take a walk...

story and photos by GAIL BOWMAN
for The Parthenon

More people are taking to the trails these days as a way of relieving stress and enjoying nature while burning calories.

Walking trails near Marshall offer a break without going far away and the benefits are numerous.

"I think there is pretty good support for the idea that exercise, aerobic exercise of almost any kind, even walking, is really good for emotional and behavioral health," Dr. Marty Amerikaner, psychology professor, said.

Walking tends to decrease depression, leaving people with a more positive outlook and increased self-esteem, he said.

Additionally, "there are some people who seem to be very sensitive to the amount of sunlight that they experience."

Some, in the late fall and winter, suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

"Sunlight is important, and a good way to get more light is to be outdoors," Amerikaner said. "People who go for a 20-minute walk benefit."

Some students, staff and faculty, who have only 20 minutes to ease stress or increase activity levels, use the campus Wellness Walk. It's about one mile long and was established in 1989 to promote exercise at lunchtime.

"Between 200 and 300 faculty, staff and students participated in the fall Wellness Walk," Carla Lapelle, coordinator of student health education programs, said. A map is available in Prichard Hall, Room 140.

Marshall's track is available, but it is used by track, cross-country and other sport teams.

"You just work around that," Rick Robinson, exercise specialist and president of the West Virginia Physical Activity Coalition, said.

Several Marshall students go to Ritter Park to burn calories. The 78-acre park begins at 13th Avenue on the south side of Huntington and offers well-groomed tracks and a steeper, inclined trail.

Tim Scott, a freshman from Charleston, runs on the Ritter Park trails. "I come here about three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, unless I miss a day and then I have to make it up. If it snows, I still run."

Students seeking a workout or a break can drive a short distance to the Huntington Museum of Art nature trails, 8th Street Park Hills, above Ritter Park. The HMA trails range in intensity from easy to moderate. The moderate trail winds through cut rock cliffs and across wooden bridges built by Marshall students.

Beech Fork State Park, south of Huntington, nine miles off Interstate 64, has 3,144 acres with easy, moderate, severe and handicap-accessible trails. A beaver recently moved close to the easy Nature Trail, leaving tracks and gnawed trees beside the walkway.

It's not uncommon to see white tail deer, Canada geese, Great Blue Herons, raccoons, possums, a wide variety of song birds and beavers along the walking trail areas, Stan Mathis, Beech Fork assistant park superintendent, said.

Several area trails were designed and improved by Marshall faculty and students.

"We have taken on a number of projects around the community at different times," Dr. Raymond Busbee, coordinator of Marshall's park resources and leisure services, said. "As a matter of fact, the trail up at the Museum of Art was actually built by my students. We put in 1,200 to 1,600 hours of work time, redesigning and building that whole system up there.

"Usually at the trail entrance, signs let the public know, before they get on a trail, whether it is going to be moderate, severe or easy and the length of the trail," Busbee said.

Safety is a consideration for any walker. Robinson cautioned that walkers think not just of a trail, but if it's a safe walking area, such as a college or high school track. Many of the athletic fields in Cabell County have walking tracks. "Some of the high schools have tracks and you can call ahead to see if they are open to the public," Robinson said.

Sgt. A. D. Howell of the Marshall University Police Department recommended traveling "as a group of at least two to three .. . if one gets hurt or sick, you have at least one person that can help you out or go get help. Students can call here [696-HELP] and tell us they need help and we would dispatch the Huntington Police Department out there. The most important thing is, basically, be aware of your surroundings."

Most walkers say the main satisfaction in walking is that it is fun, especially when going out as a group.

Amerikaner said, "If you walk with other people, that may increase your sense of social connectiveness and also decrease feelings of isolation."

The Outdoor Club is a campus group that offers opportunities "for people in college or anyone else who wants to get out and experience the wilderness," John Whitten Penning-ton, Aiken, S.C., graduate student and vice president of MU's Outdoor Club, said.

"We go to Lake Vesuvius [Wayne National Forest, Ironton, Ohio] for the walking trails and rock climbing sites a lot. We also go skiing and tubing ... anything outdoors. Our biggest things are climbing, backpacking, caving, propelling and rafting, too. People just want to burn off the stress from school. A lot of times people join the club to just get away and do something different, to meet people or to learn something."

Beech Fork has several paved easy trails, including the Pedestrian Walkway Tunnel.

Krista Wayton, Atlantic City, N.J. junior, said taking a break at Ritter Park is nice and peaceful.

Charleston freshman Tim Scott said "[Ritter Park track] is easier on the knees, because you don't have to worry about going up on the curb and then down from the curb."