The following article was published in the Key West Citizen today, Friday, December 5, 2008. It was written by Ron Cooke

These Shoes Are Made For Walking
By RON COOKE Citizen Staff

KEY WEST
Back in July, Chester Kalb still had 10 marathons to do to complete his quest to walk-race a marathon in all 50 states.
Known as the Southernmost Walker, the 63-year-old Key West resident not only did the last 10 to reach the goal in late October, he added an additional two marathons just for the fun of it. That's more than 314 miles he has race-walked since July and he's still going strong.
"I did an additional walk in Montana and San Francisco even though I had already completed each of those states," Kalb said. "Since July, I completed marathons in Michigan, California, Wyoming, Mississippi, New York, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Baltimore, Maryland, Bal Harbor, Maine and finished my 50th state in Falmouth, Mass."
A member of the Marathon Maniacs, a group of runners and walkers who have completed a specific number of marathons as a prerequisite for membership, Kalb walked his way to the 10th star or titanium level, the highest achievable level in the elite club. Currently there are 31 who have reached the titanium level and 1,200 from around the world in the club.
"Two weeks after I finished my 50th state goal, I finished a marathon in 30 different states in a one-year period to achieve my 10th star level," Kalb said. "There are club members that are more maniacal than me. There's a guy from San Antonio, Texas, that is going to do 100 marathons this year. He does three on like Labor Day and other holiday weekends. This is his third year in a row he has done 50 states in one year. He did 76 two years ago, last year 93 and this year 100. That's more of a maniac than I am and he's about my age."
Even though he achieved his goal, Kalb is not resting on his walking shoes. He has two goals, the first a very ambitious mark even for a Marathon Maniac.
"Believe it or not, I'm in the process of doing 16 marathons in 16 weeks. I've already got nine and this weekend makes my 10th," Kalb said. "Most of the races are in Florida, but I'm going to Huntsville, Ala., Jackson, Miss., and then New Orleans.
"My other goal is to help my wife, Gerda, do a half marathon in every state. She has 37 right now. I've pretty much got it planned out and she should be finished by November of next year."

Published Friday, December 5, 2008