‘If you are in a bad mood, go for a walk. If you are still in a bad mood, go for another walk.’

I would like to lay claim to these words, but they’re older than me. They were spoken by Hippocrates, the ‘father of medicine’ who ambled here and there circa 400BC and who proclaimed that ‘walking is man’s best medicine’.

It seems nowadays that everywhere you look there are stories about the benefits of walking. Last month I wrote of a study that analysed health data for more than 30 million people which showed that an 11-minute, or longer, daily walk could lower the risk of premature death by 25 per cent. It’s worth a go, right?

Then, just recently, the New York Times added another contribution to the literary canon of walking-is-good-for-you.   

In a guest essay, Andrew McCarthy, the author of Walking With Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain writes about the power of walking to help solve problems. He used many quotes, including that   from Hippocrates, such as:

“If I could not walk far and fast I think I should just explode and perish.” – Charles Dickens

“Thoughts come clearly while one walks.” – Thomas Mann

“[There’s] nothing like a nighttime stroll to give you ideas.” – J.K. Rowling

“There is something about walking that animates and activates my ideas.” – Jean-Jacques Rousseau

“All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

McCarthy says his own ruminations on walking could never approach those of Nietzsche’s, but he does write: “Has anyone ever emerged from ambling through nature for an hour and regretted their improved state of being?”

In my experience, and the experiences of the thousands of people participating in the Walk1200km challenge, the answer is a resounding ‘no’. It’s never too late to join; sign up at wildernessmag.co.nz/walk1200km and really get your mind in motion.