It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.
-Moliere

Central Utah Water Conservancy

Daily Death March – It’s Fun!

It may not seem like the ideal way to start the work day, but the employees at the Central Utah Water Conservancy District’s Utah Valley Water Treatment Plant in Orem, have been completing their “death march” daily for over a year.

The walking program started two years previously when a few employees started walking around the plant’s interior road. Daily they would take 30 minutes and walk six laps (2 miles). Shortly most employees were joining the walkers. After several months, the group felt that a more challenging walk was required. Fortunately for them, the answer lay just outside their front gate – the trailhead for the Bonneville Shoreline trail.

It did not take long to realize that this march was far more challenging than just making the loop around the plant. Within days, it became fondly known and the “Death March.” The group starts out together and each individual is able to walk at their own pace. After 20 minutes of walking up the steep incline, the group turns around and heads for home.

The benefits of this walking program have been unexpected. In the first year of the walking program, the nine employees lost a collective 150 lbs. There have been benefits other than the obvious health related ones. The group finds that this time allows them to talk in a more informal setting with peers and bosses.

With two years under their much smaller belts, the group plans on continuing the walking program. The District as a whole has created a Wellness Council whose first project was a three month walking program for all District employees. The Council helped pay for pedometers for all employees interested. In the 72 days the District has been conducting in the challenge, the 38 employees participating have walked over 11,800 miles!

(Robert Aitken (right) and Dave Hardy tackle the Death March. Photo by Roger Hatch)