Professor takes 20 millionth step and keeps walking

What do you remember about the summer of 2014? Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were married. Breaking Bad was still dominating the television landscape. You couldn't go anywhere without hearing Taylor Swift on the radio.

And in Kalamazoo, Dr. Sue Caulfield was just starting to count her steps.

Three years later, Brangelina is no more, Breaking Bad and Taylor Swift are only slightly less dominant than before, and Dr. Caulfield just took her 20 millionth step.

To put it in utterly useless terms, that means that Sue could have walked all the way to Johannesburg, South Africa. She could have walked to Phoenix and back each year. She has walked the equivalent of 333 marathons.

But instead of walking to exotic locations or losing hundreds of marathons to people who run, she walked the majority of those miles right here in Kalamazoo, walking from her home to the College of Health and Human Services and back nearly every day. Not to mention the thousands of steps she's actually taken inside the CHHS building. And if that weren't enough, she walks to main campus on a daily basis as well.

An avid traveler, Dr. Caulfield has taken many steps, far from Kalamazoo, whether on road trips in North America (west along Route 66 or northeast to Newfoundland) or more exotic locations like Africa and Ohio.

"I had taken part in '10,000 Steps a Day' initiatives at the University in the past," she said. "But it didn't really work for me. So all of this actually started in 2014 when I taught HOL 2000 for the first time. With sustainability in mind, I decided that I probably shouldn't drive my car every day. So...I didn't."

For the 2014-15 academic year, Sue walked to work and back home, every day. And she has largely maintained that habit ever since.

Experts say you should get 10,000 steps a day to be considered "active." Most Americans get just about 5-6000 steps on a daily basis.

A 2010 study shows that walking leads to improved cardiovascular health, personal growth, and many other variables that contribute towards healthy living. Additionally, the American Heart Association notes that a brisk walk can lower risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes if performed and maintained over time. [source]

It should be noted that though her Fitbit says she's taken 20 million "lifetime steps," Sue had walked for several years before Fitbits were invented. She could have a billion lifetime steps. We'll never know for sure.

Places Sue did not walk

Sue Caulfield has walked a lot of places since putting on her Fitbit three years ago. Here is a short list of places Sue has not (yet) walked.

In Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte

On stage with Broadway's Les Miserables

Silly walking with Elaine on Seinfeld