KAILUA-KONA — Peter Chaput is a man on a mission, walking 3,000 miles in one year and never leaving the island.
Better yet, never leaving the park.
The 69-year old Alii Heights resident spends at least two hours a day, seven days a week walking at the Makeao Walking Path at Old Kona Airport State Recreation Area, completing 11 to 15 laps a day. Each lap equals 0.7 miles, and after taking up the challenge at the beginning of the year, he’s slated to reach 3,000 miles — roughly the distance of going coast to coast on the mainland — the first week of December.
“I feel lucky to be here,” Chaput said. “The journey is key, not the destination.”
Chaput and his wife retired to Kona in 2001 after teaching marketing at the University of Southern New Hampshire and owning and operating the Grayhurst Hotel in Hampton Beach, N.H., for 24 years.
Always athletic, Chaput got his workout doing yard work at three Kona properties he purchased after selling the hotel.
But it wasn’t enough. What spurred his trek was a challenge.
At first, Chaput initially came to the walking path in 2007 to augment the landscaping workout he was getting. He started walking 2 to 3 miles a day, four to five days a week using arm weights. It was there he met part-time Kona resident Chuck Alexander, who approached Chaput and asked if he could walk with him.
Alexander became obsessed with walking and in 2013 logged 2,620 miles to Chaput’s 1,900 and a friendly rivalry began.
This past February, Alexander told Chaput, “I cremated you,” speaking of his 720-mile lead.
Down to working on only one house, Chaput had a little extra time and laid down the gauntlet.
“I’m gonna beat your 2,620. I will hit 3,000,” he told Alexander.
“You will never hit it.” Alexander replied. “Your knees will go first.”
So, the challenge was born.
Now, Chaput is at the gate every morning when it opens to start his day’s journey. He has been listening to the same 80 songs on his playlist as he laps the course, acknowledging all of the familiar faces as they pass. All the regulars know him and ask about his progress. Chaput has become quite a fixture at the path and has been called “The Mayor of Makaeo.”
“It’s really a social thing,” he said of his time on the path. “It makes the time go by fast. It’s a display of human nature.”
He marvels at the effort volunteers from Friends for Fitness put into beautifying and keeping the path maintained and is trying to raise awareness and funds to support them on his final 100 miles.
There are days he just doesn’t want to walk, but he keeps pushing himself.
“When I first get out there, my mind and body are at grips,” Chaput said. “The first lap or two are negative. The body says it’s too tired or too hot, especially this summer, but the mind motivates you.”
Chaput draws on his college days playing sports as motivation. He was the only student at the time playing two sports year round, hockey and baseball.
“It’s the drive of the motivation,” he said. “It’s the intensity of the drive.”
He recalls a conversation he had with a 90-year-old woman on the track who told him: “All you have to do is put one foot in front of the other. That’s all you have to do!”
When asked what’s next he chuckled.
“I’ve been so focused on 3,000. I don’t know what’s after,” he said. “I think I’m going to write a book about my experiences running the hotel.”
“Count your blessings,” he added, “tomorrow is promised to no one.”
Email Laura Shimabuku at lshimabuku@westhawaiitoday.com.
