
DATE: Tuesday, May 20, 1997                 TAG: 9705200034

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY PAT DOOLEY, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  112 lines

WALKIN' MAN REAL-LIFE FORREST GUMP, WHO'S TREKKED ACROSS AMERICA, STRIDES INOT HAMPTON ROADS THIS WEEK TO TOUT HEALTH BENEFITS OF WALKING

ROB SWEETGALL talks the walk.

A former chemical engineer from Missouri, he quit his job 15 years ago to hoof it around the country.

At 49, he's trekked more than 22,000 miles in all 50 states, talking along the way to schoolkids, health professionals, senior citizens and executives about the joys of putting one foot in front of the other.

Walking burns fat, builds self-esteem, boosts mood, improves thinking and enhances overall health, Sweetgall says.

In further praise of it, he'll be in South Hampton Roads on Wednesday for three free workshops sponsored by Bon Secours Health Systems Inc. They include a public session at 7 p.m. at the downtown Norfolk Marriott. On Thursday, he'll give three more talks on the Peninsula.

Sweetgall says we're a nation of softies - overly dependent on modern conveniences and carrying around the jelly bellies and mashed-potato thighs to prove it.

In an average lifetime, we spend 24 years sleeping, 13 years watching television and six months exercising, he says.

``Most Americans think exercise is too hard and takes up too much time.'' Or we're intimidated by the lithe, leotard-clad few.

As a result, more than a third of us are obese, he says. Even more are at risk for a deep-fat fryer full of maladies, from heart attack and stroke to depression and fatigue.

We need to get off our sedentary bottoms, Sweetgall says, and start walking.

It's easy, low-risk and doesn't require special clothing or equipment. Anyone can do it, anywhere, any time, says the self-described former nerd who bore the nickname ``Butterball'' in childhood.

``I was moderately pudgy,'' he says.

By the time he graduated from college in 1969, the 6-foot-2 Sweetgall weighed nearly 200 pounds. He began jogging to lose weight and soon was running road races and six-day ultra-marathons.

After his father died of a heart attack in 1976, Sweetgall was compelled to share his love of fitness with America's mushy-muscled masses.

He integrated walking into his exercise routines and later left engineering for a 10,000-mile walk-run around the United States, promoting physical fitness and tallying some 30 miles a day.

When he arrived in Texas around mile 3,000, Sweetgall's feet were blistered, his legs throbbing. ``I was limping into schools and talking about health,'' he says, chuckling.

So he converted to walking - it's kinder on the joints, he says - and logged 11,208 miles in a second yearlong jaunt across America in 1984.

``I don't care if I never run another day,'' he says.

Today, Sweetgall weighs in at 170 pounds and charts 30 to 40 miles of walking a week. In 1996, a fairly typical year, he burned more than 256,000 calories in 2,000 miles of walking. He visits more than 200 cities each year, sometimes walking in community events. He has written and published nine books, including ``Walking Off Weight'' and ``Walk the Four Seasons.''

In press material, Sweetgall is dubbed ``the real Forrest Gump,'' a reference to a 1994 movie character played by Tom Hanks. Gump drops out of the mainstream and jogs across America.

One of the movie's scenes, in which Gump encounters a throng of reporters, reminds Sweetgall of a 1986 documentary he made called ``Walk America.'' In it, Sweetgall was filmed walking across the Brooklyn Bridge when a television reporter thrust a microphone in his face, and asked, ``Why are you doing this?''

Much like Gump, Sweetgall answered matter-of-factly: ``Oh, I'm just finishing an 11,000-mile walk.''

Sweetgall has walked across America seven times.

But he advises would-be walkers to start slowly. Strive for small gains daily or weekly, he says.

``One mile is good. Two miles are better. Three are near perfect.''

Unlike some walking enthusiasts, Sweetgall doesn't emphasize technique - ``We all learned to walk,'' he says - but he does suggest jotting down mileage to help build a routine.

``It improves self-esteem and keeps you on track,'' Sweetgall says.

Ask yourself this, he advises: Is my routine practical, enjoyable, safe? Will it nudge my body into condition? Can I do it for life?

Then, open the door and step outside, he says. ``Just walk around the block a few times.

``Walking is the ultimate lifetime exercise.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Illustration]

THE ADVANTAGES OF WALKING

JANET SHAUGHNESSY

The Virginian-Pilot

SOURCE: Walking the Four Seasons

[Color Photo]

Rob Sweetgall...

LEARN MORE ABOUT WALKING

Rob Sweetgall, a former engineer from Missouri who walks to