Cleo Pitt, a 73-year-old from Footscray is taking major strides in her fitness goals, and encourages everyone to get walking. She spoke to Star Weekly about her amazing journey.
Tell us a bit about you and what you do?
I’m semi-retired from work, but not from life. My personal goal is to continue to live longer and better. My interests include textiles, plant based cooking, health, and exercise.
Tell us about your walking, how did you start and why should other people follow in your footsteps? (Literally!)
The five million step challenge for 2023 came about when I joined an online group of people interested in improving their health. Although I didn’t take it seriously at first, as the year progressed I realised my fitness was improving. I had more stamina, could walk faster, and do more steps.
In the first quarter of the year I didn’t reach 1.25 million steps. In fact, I was 70,005 steps short of the target. Neither did I fare better in the second quarter. Actually, I did worse with 88,486 steps short. In my third quarter I did slightly better, but I was still short by 67,602 steps.
There’s something about a goal being within shooting distance. So, despite it being October, I decided to show that this old girl still had some gas left in the tank. At that time, I calculated that I had to take 16,970 steps per day to succeed at the challenge. Despite my previous efforts, I could see that this goal was still achievable, and that’s when I seriously started to track my daily steps.
Tracking, as it turns out, is a key part of success.
Two weeks before the end of the year I had my average down to 11,059 steps per day. A completely achievable total. By New Years Eve 2023, I crossed the finish line with a total of 5,056,001 steps. The distance, I’ve been told, is the same as walking from Melbourne to Darwin.
Walking is a great way to build fitness, meet other people and get to know your local community. Best of all—it’s free!
What are your goals for the coming year?
My goals are to do five pushups, and be able to walk up 1000 stairs non-stop by the end of the year, and walk 10,000 steps every day of the year.
What’s your connection to Maribyrnong and what do you like about where you live?
I’ve been living in Footscray close to the Maribyrnong River for just over a year. I love the community here. The people are friendly and there are great places to go for coffee.
What, if anything, would you change about where you live?
I would like to see less littering. I belong to the Maribyrnong River Rubbish Club. We meet once a month to pick up rubbish along the foreshore. I encourage everyone to join.
Where is your favourite local place to spend time?
My favourite place is by the river and through Newells Paddock and wetlands. The bird life around the wetland is large and lively, and I feel so lucky to see it every day.
Tell us something people would be surprised to know about you.
I once helped to organise a Guinness Book of Records attempt for the largest number of people dancing the Time Warp from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. We achieved our goal—although we were beaten half a day later by another group in England.
