Peaceful Walk

The soft earth gives way to your hiking boots as you take a spontaneous little stroll through the forest adjacent to your home. These woods are so familiar to you now, after years of afternoon escapes away from the family. But even as every tree around you seems like an old family friend, so shall this little patch of earth transform into something else and be no more the many faces that reach out to you from the green as it is right now. The word walk is descended from the Old English wealcan "to roll". In humans and other bipeds, walking is generally distinguished from running in that only one foot at a time leaves contact with the ground and there is a period of double-support. In contrast, running begins when both feet are off the ground with each step. This distinction has the status of a formal requirement in competitive walking events. For quadrupedal species, there are numerous gaits which may be termed walking or running, and distinctions based upon the presence or absence of a suspended phase or the number of feet in contact any time do not yield mechanically correct classification. Although walking speeds can vary greatly depending on factors such as height, weight, age, terrain, surface, load, culture, effort, and fitness, the average human walking speed is about 5.0 kilometres per hour (km/h), or about 3.1 miles per hour (mph). Specific studies have found pedestrian walking speeds ranging from 4.51 km/h to 4.75 km/h for older individuals to 5.32 km/h to 5.43 km/h for younger individuals. An average human child achieves independent walking ability around 11 months old.