Mall walkers: Not your usual mall rats by any means

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Saturday, July 3, 2010 | 2:01 a.m.

Sweat is rolling down James Holsey’s face. A towel draped over his shoulder, one he uses frequently to wipe the perspiration during this lap around the track, is soaked.

Holsey, 70, goes at his own pace, the result of knee replacement surgery nearly 10 years ago. But, as with the other mall walkers who arrive religiously at the crack of dawn six days a week at the Galleria at Sunset mall, simply showing up to exercise is what matters most.

Holsey moves with the assistance of a walker and takes pride in being able to make it three times around the quarter-mile route on the mall’s second floor.

About 30 regular walkers, most senior citizens, have formed a unique bond on their morning strolls. Although exercise is what brings them to the mall, it’s the friendships and post-walking activities that keep them coming back.

“There is definitely an inner obligation to the group to come every day,” Holsey said. “We keep each other going.”

When the doors to the mall’s food court are unlocked at 6 a.m., walkers are already assembled to greet the security guard. By the time the majority of the mall’s stores open four hours later, most are stationed in the food court, engaged in deep conversation.

And they are treated well.

McDonald’s gives them free water, which is sitting on the tables when the walkers finish their workout. The restaurant also gives them 54-cent coffee with unlimited refills.

The mall coordinates meetings for the group, known as the Sunstriders, at 9 a.m. on the second Wednesday of each month, usually have a guest speaker — such as a representative from the police department to talk about senior safety, or a manager from one of the mall’s stores.

Most have been walking at the mall for years, including several who have been regulars since the retail center opened in the mid-1990s. There are no dues to join the group.

“If I stop (daily) walking, I wouldn’t be able to start again at my age,” said Ray White, 76, a former marathon runner who still appears to be in great shape. “Ask all the others, this is as much social as it is walking.”

Keith Bengtson, Tom Harrop and Norman Sieler usually take their laps together. They talk politics, reminisce about their days in the service or rehash the previous night’s ballgame.

They are so engaged in their conversation, with perhaps more one-line jokes than serious talk, that the form of exercise they credit with keeping them healthy doesn’t feel much like exercise at all.

“We walk together and then we go out and party together,” said Sieler, 71.

Once a month, the group has a breakfast buffet across the street at Sunset Station. They also bring in a cake for monthly birthday parties that include recognizing the birthdays of mall employees. They also do potluck breakfasts.

And, when one of the regulars misses a few days, another is quick to call with concern.

“If anyone goes out of town without letting us know, we all get worried about them and wonder if they are sick,” said Betty Harrop, one of the group’s unofficial leaders.

The walkers have plenty of company each summer. With temperatures entering triple digits in Southern Nevada, several nonregulars are taking advantage of the indoor option.

The summer scene includes mothers pushing children in strollers, a group of middle-age women and some who keep track of their pace with a pedometer.

Former race walker Jean Plahetka, 56, has calculated the distance as 1,200 steps per lap by using her pedometer. She also checks her time near the end of the route by using a digital clock inside Front Row Sports by the food court.

The route starts in the food court and loops around the second floor clockwise, going past the front of every upper-level store. Some shops have employees already at work, busy arranging clothes and setting up the store for the day. The walkers greet everyone with a smile.

“It’s like they are a part of the mall,” said Heather Valera, Galleria’s marketing director, who oversees the program. “It’s just a nice and very considerate group of people.”