What a great "March Madness" special event. It was tough knowing that we had to work hard to compete Elle's team in the final round, but we pulled through. I sent my email address to my teammates (through Healthwalkers) which allowed us to email encouragement to each other. It really helped when we had to all pull our weight in the final round. In the future, it would be good when we sign up to indicate if our email address is sent to our teammates automatically. I am really glad this occurred.

Also, I have been wanting to have shirts, hats etc. available for purchase with the Healthwalkers logo on it. I submitted an email to a source of these types of items to see what is available and the costs. When I find out more information on them, I'll pass it along.

Go Healthwalkers. Thanks for a great contest and for all the encouragements that it created to walk more with diligence.

I found this site by googling "Walk Across America" hoping somebody had set up a way of translating daily walking miles into a cross-country virtual walk.  Health Walkers is even better than what I'd hoped for, very complete but not too complicated.  It's really kept me motivated. I'm more than half-way across Illinois (yeah, I started in my home state, not on the East Coast) then it's on to Iowa and points west!

Ellie has been a great motivator for me. I read about her in our newspaper the first year of Healthwalkers and decided that I, too, could walk. She has motivated me by staying on top of the list and also by personally encouraging me by e-mail.

I have been going to Weight Watchers 2 years tomorrow. By walking, riding a bike, exercising and physical therapy I have needed to do I have become more athletic - at 56 years of age! Of course, diet also plays an important role. I have learned how to eat healthy and try to walk every day.

The total amount of weight I have lost because of all these factors is about 72 pounds as of yesterday. I still have at least 24 more pounds to go, but I KNOW I can reach my goal.

Healthwalkers has kept me accountable for recording activities and trying to maintain a status on the front page, even though I've had some surgeries and some medical problems during this time period. I also challenged one HW member to a goal to be higher on the first page by Dec. 10, 2005. I did win the challenge, but I actually think we both won because we are both more active because of this. By challenging her I have also gained a long-distance e-mailing friend.

Keep up the good work!

Thank you, Healthwalkers!

I read about a program called "Exercise Across America" offered through another program. I checked on their website, but it looked to bureaucratic for me. I wanted something simple. Their program uses a logbook and you pick a state to walk across. A small state would be for beginners and a large state for an advanced walker. I then started browsing and found your website. Much more simpler and easier to use.  I like the way you have set up your "Walk Across America" program.

I just wanted to add my thanks to the many others who are benefiting from your web site. I have lost 13 lbs since joining up this past May and I know that consistent walking has been the difference. Your site is the easiest I have found to keep track of miles walked and it challenges me to make an entry every day. Unfortunately, I may have charged out a little too exuberantly. I have developed blister on both heels! So I will be backing off a little for the next couple of weeks, getting in what I can.  But thanks again for your wonderfully simple but extremely useful web site!

I have been saying to people, because of knee surgery in October and the fact I have to snowshoe instead of walk (and snowshoeing is a LOT slower that walking!), I set a new record for most days needed to reach the 100 mile goal!! But I did it, at least in part because of the website. Yes, it has helped. Writing to congratulate others who reached their goals helped me realize that I could do it too, kept me motivated.

I use the site to keep track of walking, strength training, and biking. I enjoy seeing how the other members are doing, how far they are walking and that they meet the goals. I like that the site keeps track of lots of different activities. The special events are fun to watch, too. I wish your message board was more active, but I guess people are all out walking!! The sense of community is nice, since I live in the middle of the woods in Maine and don't have a community handy! I am grateful the site is there. Oh, I also like the walking across the states aspect of the site. Another site I used to go to did a similar thing, but the miles walked did not match up to the miles they gave me (they gave way more than I walked, so it wasn't a true picture of how far I walked). I like how you do it.

I thank you for the work you do to run the site. It is making a difference in the amount I snowshoe/walk, thus it is making a difference in my life.

Thanks for the support and keep up the good work.