If you are in the neighbourhood around Tapestry at Village Gate West, you may see residents enjoying a meal in our Pub or boarding the shuttle for one of our many unique wellness excursions. You are also likely to see Norman, one of our amazing residents, who has been putting his best foot forward and tracking some serious miles around the community while taking his fitness goals to new lengths.

A Tapestry resident since 2019, Norman has always been one to get involved in community activities. When Tapestry’s Wellness team introduced Urban Poling in early 2021, Norman was keen to get involved and to encourage other residents to join him for walks around the community.

“Walking with Urban Poles is a total body workout,” says Brayan Martinez, Wellness Supervisor at Tapestry at Village Gate West. “The poles promote stability and provide an extra level of support for those wanting to walk a bit further while also engaging upper body and core.”

It was for these reasons that Norman challenged himself to try Urban Poling. A year after taking his first walk with his urban poles, Norman is happy to report that he’s tracked over 330 Km in the last year and is still adding to that number every day! For Norman, consistency has been the key to success.

Norman split his year into quarters. He started with a modest distance to get comfortable with using the poles and worked up to longer distances throughout the year. For Norman it wasn’t necessarily about where he walked, but how the walks could support his wellness journey. The cold weather through the winter months didn’t deter Norman as he even found routes indoors or in the parking garage so he could consistently accomplish his 11 walks per week.

We are excited to see how far Norman will go in 2022 and hope his story inspires you to try out this exciting activity.