MATTAPOISETT, MASS. (WHDH) - A Mattapoisett man is close to completing a decades-long journey to walk the length of the Earth’s circumference.
It all started with a doctor’s order in 1988 and now, 88-year-old Brad Hathaway is on track to walk 24,901 miles.
“My weight was above normal a little bit,” he explained. “Brad, he says you have got to start walking. I’d like you to walk three miles a day.”
And so, for 32 years Hathaway has walked — apart from a short period last year following the death of his wife.
Every step he takes down to each quarter-mile is meticulously logged and added.
“Every day I would log on my calendar on the refrigerator how many miles I had gone,” Hathaway explained.
As of Labor Day, the octogenarian had traversed a total of 24,830 and a quarter miles — a distance just short of the Earth’s circumference.
“Finally, we got the point, my god, maybe I can walk around the world,” he said.
For three decades, the miles have all added up for his health, now Hathaway has decided to put his hard work into conservation and raise money for the Mattapoisett Land Trust.
“I want to raise that money because I have seen too much development in rural areas of all the towns around here,” he explained.
If everything goes according to plan, Hathaway will reach his goal next month and plans to celebrate this milestone accomplishment at the very place he is strolling to serve.
After reaching the 24,901-mile goal, he said he plans to start his second journey around the Earth.
“I am hoping to get to 25,000,” he said chuckling.
Anyone looking to contribute to Hathaway’s cause can do so here.
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