![]() They were solely for the purpose to rest, eat, and try to dry his soaking clothes. Tim didn’t spend much time staying in the villages. The routes were very well maintained by the Scottish government. Some spots along the trails really had its perks with something called an “honor bar.” These were set up for walkers, like Tim, that provided different kinds of power bars if needed. Tim said he met many friendly people in the villages. He described the villages he stayed at every night as, “tiny, tiny towns.” Most of them had zero internet access but when Wi-Fi did appear, Tim took advantage of it and sent a quick message to Patty to say, “Yes, I got to this place safe.” Patty must have been very reassured with such a lengthy message. He was ecstatic to learn most of the Bed and Breakfasts had a specific room to dry clothes and other wet belongings. The rain was the heavy, pouring, “cars had to pull over and wait for it to pass,” kind of rain. He described them as, “amazingly horrendous,” referring to the huge amounts of rain that happened almost daily. Tim took every stride with absolute positivity and saw everything about his experience in the same light, especially the weather conditions. ![]() While the Mequon school hallways were filled with eager students and teachers, Tim began a journey he will never forget. That day was also when school started at his newly retired place of employment. The first day of his journey was not short of symbolism. Walking approximately 20 miles a day, it took him about three weeks to complete. Through extensive research on his exact route through Scotland, Tim walked from the Southern tip to the Northern tip, from Hadrian’s Wall to the Inverness Tip. He had a goal for each walking day to make it long enough to reach his belongings. ![]() His scheduled route for the Sherpa service was a way of motivation for Tim. A quality Sherpa service is hard to come by in the states making Tim’s decision to go out of the U.S. In Tim’s case, they took it to and from each predetermined Bed and Breakfast along his route. A Sherpa service is a company or group of people that will take your luggage from destination to destination for you while you travel. He chose Scotland for two main reasons one, they spoke “somewhat English” and two, they had a great Sherpa service. In fact, it was the combination of his family’s love for travel, his passion for working out and staying fit, and a book he read along the way, “A walk across France” by Miles Morland that cultivated his desire to walk across Scotland. Tim, along with his wife and two adult children have conquered most of the United States and much of Europe. “Travel is a real love of ours,” the former teacher said. Tim and his wife Patty, have always loved to travel, and their teaching careers have given them the time to do so. Being a “people person” himself, Tim says its enjoyable to be surrounded by people who will chat with you while breaking a sweat.Īfter multiple knee surgeries, yet still an avid runner, Tim usually goes for runs in the morning and uses Elite’s facilities for the bulk of his cross training and weight training. He raves about how friendly and personable the people are at Elite. The aspect that keeps bringing Tim and Patty back to Elite, is the people. They both like to work out in the early mornings at Elite. ![]() It’s been a good fit for us.” Patty, his wife, has been a member at Elite for about 20 years and got Tim to join Elite two years ago. Tim and his family have always been active. Having accomplished such a feat, Tim has acquired a few meaningful philosophies on maintaining one’s health and fitness as a means to better enjoy life. “When I retired, I wanted to do something big.” Tim Stark, a veteran marathon runner and Elite Sports Clubs member, took his retirement plan to a whole new level and walked across Scotland in the fall of 2012. This story originally appeared in the Fall 2014 edition of our seasonal magazine.
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