Joan Monson, a Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota member, has walked three miles every day for 24 years and counting— and at 78-years-old shows no signs of stopping.

Walking in harsh weather is no big deal for Joan Monson. She's endured rain, wind, snow, sub-zero cold and sweltering heat—pretty much everything Minnesota has in its weather arsenal. She wouldn’t miss it—and hasn’t—for 24 years.

“You just do it,” says Monson, a Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota member who turned 78 this year. “It’s like brushing your teeth—I always compare it to that. [On] snowy days, when… getting ready, you just go out and you find that oh, this is really nice. It’s actually so beautiful.”

The benefits of regular walking have been well documented, from strengthening bones and muscles to maintaining a healthy weight to improving mental health.

Monson, who started walking three miles a day every day in 1994, considers herself a prime example. She is on no prescription medications, has no chronic conditions, has never been ill enough to miss a day and, without question, maintains an always-positive attitude.

“And through the years I’ve had a lot of fun doing it,” she says.

Building a habit

Crunching through the snow on a sunny Monday morning after the weekend storm, Monson recalled the early days of her walking regimen. Now retired, she was still teaching elementary school part-time in St. Louis Park when she began walking to cope with hip and shoulder pain.

“And it just seemed like all of my joints felt better the more I walked,” she says. “And by that time of course, I didn’t have any kids at home and I only worked half time, so there was no reason I couldn’t do it every day.”

Days turned to weeks, weeks to months, and soon the daily walks were a permanent fixture in Monson’s life, even after the pain was long gone.

The route has stayed the same through the years, though the scenery has changed. She mentions residents who have come and gone, and friends and family who have joined her on walks over the years—including on group walks that mark every five years of her streak.

Monson can identify every sight, sound and smell along the route and has a story to tell about each of them. No block goes by without an anecdote. Everyone gets a wave and a smile, sometimes a hello or a brief stop to chat. She knows some people by name, but many more by face and location.

Walking near a couple of fast food restaurants, Monson scoops up a piece of cardboard and disposes of it at the nearest garbage container. Picking up trash is often part of her routine, as is collecting spare change, which she donates to charity. To date, she’s collect ed nearly $800.

Monson meticulously logs every mile she walks on a paper chart attached to a cabinet in her laundry room, which is also a memento room of sorts, where past newspaper articles about her walking and a variety of gear is kept. She’s logged more than 26,000 miles since 1994—over 1,000 miles more than a lap around the globe.

Mental therapy

Walking has helped Monson mentally just as much as it has physically, she says.

She walked on the day her husband of 51 years died, at the urging of her children, Tammy and Tom. He had been in a care facility 1.5 mile from Monson’s home and she altered her daily walk to be to and from the facility while he was there.

“It’s like taking an eraser and you can erase anything negative,” Monson says of the mental benefits of walking. “You can think about the rest of your day, you think about the people you met along the way.”

Monson will sometimes listen to country music, gospel or news on an old headset during her walks, but she is just as content to soak in her surroundings and use the time to think. Walking outside is her preference, though she has had to get her three miles in at the airport and elsewhere when traveling. Her vacation and mission trip walks have included a cruise ship and laps in a courtyard in Guatemala.

“She’s just incredibly dedicated to it,” says Tammy, 53. “You aren’t going to tell her no, so we don’t.”

25 years of walking and still going

With a group walk to celebrate the 25-year mark coming up soon, Monson says she has no plans to slow down as long as she feels well enough to continue.

“But I’m wise enough to know that one day there will be something that will end it and then I think I’ll probably need a psychologist to walk me through that,” Monson laughs. “I’m just really grateful for everything.”

Behind the scenes

Want more of the story? Take a peek behind the scenes of the cover shoot with Joan Monson for the latest issue of  thrive. magazine.