37,500 miles and counting: Goodyear retiree, 95, walks his way to wellness | Good to Know

Alan Ashworth, Akron Beacon Journal
Updated ·3 min read
Jim Dahl, 95, shows the Golden Sneaker trophy he received from the staff at Brookdale Montrose after he reached 37,500 miles walking. Dahl, a former engineer at Goodyear, started tracking his distances in 1976 when he joined a health program at work.
Jim Dahl, 95, shows the Golden Sneaker trophy he received from the staff at Brookdale Montrose after he reached 37,500 miles walking. Dahl, a former engineer at Goodyear, started tracking his distances in 1976 when he joined a health program at work.

Back in 1976, when Gerald Ford was president and the U.S. celebrated its bicentennial, Jim Dahl started walking.

And he kept going, and going, and going.

He's been keeping up with his daily strolls ever since, logging 48 years of walks in four meticulously kept journals.

Day after day, week after week and year after year, rivaling the Energizer Bunny.

Jim Dahl, 95, looks over his fourth book of his walking progress in his independent living apartment at Brookdale Montrose.
Jim Dahl, 95, looks over his fourth book of his walking progress in his independent living apartment at Brookdale Montrose.

Recently, Dahl passed 37,500 miles, and he's hoping to log another 500 this year.

That's the equivalent of more than once around the world. (For those who are curious, the Earth's circumference at the Equator is 24,901 miles.)

These days, the 95-year-old former Goodyear engineer walks indoors at the Brookdale Montrose senior living center in Copley Township, waiting for the weather to improve for a stroll outside.

In recognition of the mileage feat, Brookdale Montrose recently presented Dahl with a Golden Sneakers award.

The first entry dated Aug. 11, 1976, marks when Jim Dahl started tracking his fitness progress. Dahl, 95, hit 37,500 miles walked in January.
The first entry dated Aug. 11, 1976, marks when Jim Dahl started tracking his fitness progress. Dahl, 95, hit 37,500 miles walked in January.

Taking a wellness program to heart

Dahl said he started walking as part of an early Goodyear corporate wellness program.

"I started walking when I was 48 years old," he said.

He took the wellness program to heart, integrating his walks into his daily routine.

That's also when he started his first entries in a journal that became eventually became four, all filled with mileage, dates and the routes taken.

There are even special sections for extended walking trips in the Grand Canyon and other national parks. The distance for those isn't tabulated in the 37,000-plus mile total, he said.

On the road before breakfast

At first, Dahl said, he couldn't even run across the Goodyear gymnasium, so the early journal entries track relatively short distances.

But he worked his way up. In 1977, he was logging 2.5 miles a day. He extended that to 3 miles a day, then 4, and eventually 6.

Jim Dahl, 95, a former engineer at Goodyear, looks over some of his papers as he talks about how he started tracking his distances in 1976 when he joined a health program at work.
Jim Dahl, 95, a former engineer at Goodyear, looks over some of his papers as he talks about how he started tracking his distances in 1976 when he joined a health program at work.

Dahl, a Stow resident back then, decided to do his walks early, before work or other demands could sideline his new routine.

"My plan was, 'You better do it before breakfast,'" he said. "I'm still doing it right after breakfast here."

Working back up to 2 miles a day after a broken toe

At Brookdale Montrose, Dahl put his engineering cap back on to determine his indoor walking course. He measured the length between patterns in the hallway carpeting, using that to calculate a half-mile course throughout the facility.

"I'm trying to get back to do 2 miles [a day]," he said. "My goal for this year is to [average] 1.4 miles a day."

He was slowed a bit after recently breaking a toe that has healed well but set him back a few miles in his 500-mile goal for the year.

He never fell while walking, even in the winter, except once when a car almost hit him in his Stow-walking days.

"I've only been able to keep up with him in the last 10 years," said Liz Voth, one of Dahl's three daughters.

They would walk with him at times, especially when he was going to hit a big mileage total.

"We always tried to get our name in the book with a big number," she said.

'As long as I can'

Dahl, who was born and raised in South Dakota, joined the military after he received his degree at South Dakota State University. After a stint in the services, he had a choice between jobs at Boeing and Goodyear.

He chose Goodyear because he heard job stability was better at the Akron tire manufacturer.

"Goodyear had a year-long training program," he said.

Another person who's Good to Know: Barberton political legend Kenneth Cox still active at 95

After retirement, he and his wife, now deceased, sold their home and travelled the country in a recreational vehicle.

There was plenty of opportunity for walks on their trips.

Dahl said he thought about working up to a marathon but didn't make it. Today, he's satisfied to make his daily rounds and pad his 37,500-mile total.

"I'm going to keep up as long as I can," he said.

Do you know an interesting person in Greater Akron who would be Good to Know? Send suggestions to Alan Ashworth at aashworth@thebeaconjournal.com

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Goodyear retiree continues wellness walks for nearly 50 years