By Mary Lindsley | Posted: Sunday, April 1, 2012 6:00 am
For those of us looking for ways to get more exercise, meet new people or explore the St. Louis area, the Ten Toe Express program is a step — or thousands of steps — in the right direction.
The nonprofit group Citizens for Modern Transit operates the five-year-old program, which helps participants become familiar with getting around St. Louis both by walking and by using public transportation. Since the Ten Toe Express' creation, more than 7,000 people have taken part, and the program has now grown to include Illinois.
The next season of the Ten Toe Express begins April 10 and runs for 12 weeks (another 12-week season will begin next fall). Participants can register online at the program's website, tentoes.cmt-stl.org/.
For those who choose to do walks on their own, the website has more than 85 maps to locations all over the St. Louis area to choose from. Participants can go to Tower Grove Park for a stroll, to Old North St. Louis for a World's Fair Sundae at Crown Candy Kitchen, or to Kirkwood Junction for window shopping.
Participants who would prefer some company on their travels can go on a walk led by CMT staff, or they can go as part of a group led by a trained leader. Dan and Meredith O'Connor of Crestwood lead one such group. Or, as Meredith says, Dan is the walk leader and she is the "border collie," responsible for keeping together a group that may number as many as 30 to 35 people.
The Ten Toe Express has given them an opportunity to visit sites they may not have been familiar with before, a particular perk for Meredith, who grew up outside the St. Louis area. As the new season approaches, they're looking forward to a walk through downtown Maplewood and mini-tours of some of its shops.
The exploration aspect also appeals to Mary Fran Ballmer, a walk leader who lives in The Hill neighborhood of St. Louis. In the coming weeks, her group will visit Forest Park, tour the Peabody Opera House and visit the former home of Ulysses S. Grant. She prefers to go to sites that don't charge admission, and she always tries to include lunch as part of each walk.
"It's been a wonderful experience," Ballmer said. "We started with four people, and now I have 62 on my mailing list.”
One benefit of the program that even its organizers didn’t anticipate is the friendships that have come about because of it. Kim Cella, executive director of Citizens for Modern Transit, said she has heard participants tout the social aspect over and over again. A few people who got to know each other through the program even took a trip together to Costa Rica, she said.
Ballmer also appreciates the relational part of the program. “I’ve met a lot of people. We and some of the others became friends and see each other in the off season,” she said.
Participants also benefit from the exercise walking provides, and routes are designed so that they don’t have to worry about the walks being too strenuous. They also don’t have to worry about making a 12-week commitment to be involved with the Ten Toe Express.
“It’s such a non-pressure program,” Dan O’Connor said. “You get a walk schedule and you can go if you want, or don’t go if you don’t want to. It’s not intimidating.”