Woman pounds every inch of pavement in Menomonie

Jun. 27—MENOMONIE — Ask Leslie LeBarron about any neighborhood in Menomonie and she can tell you about it from firsthand experience.

That's because LeBarron has accomplished her personal goal of walking every city block in her hometown.

Every street, avenue, boulevard, road and highway. If it's within the Menomonie city limits, she walked it.

LeBarron, 59, a special education teacher for the Menomonie school district, heard about the concept from a friend of a friend who walked all the streets in Minneapolis.

"I thought, 'That is the coolest thing I've ever heard. I'm going to do that too,' " LeBarron said.

And so she did, putting one foot in front of the other until she completed her mission in December — 15 months after starting her quest.

"It was fantastic. It was super fun," she said. "We used to own a dog and that gives you a purpose to walk. This was kind of a new purpose to get back into walking again."

LeBarron's first stop was the Menomonie Area Chamber of Commerce, where she picked up a map showing all the city's streets that allowed her to track her progress. Menomonie has 110 miles of streets, according to Dave Frank, the city's Community Services superintendent.

"Part of the fun was discovering streets that are no longer or new ones I didn't even know existed," said LeBarron, who typically walked 1 to 5 miles at a time three or four days a week, depending on the weather and her schedule. "It was great seeing neighborhoods I knew about but had never taken time to drive by or explore."

She often rode her bike to new neighborhoods and then walked in a loop to return to the bike, or sometimes she walked with her bike, keeping it between her and traffic as a guard on a few stretches of busy highway. While she enjoyed the whole adventure, her favorite walking spots were those located in green spaces away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Heidi Karrmann, a colleague of LeBarron's at Oaklawn Elementary School, said she was impressed by her friend's accomplishment — but not surprised.

"She is always so disciplined," Karrmann said of LeBarron. "When she makes a commitment, she follows through. That's just the kind of person she is."

Karrmann called LeBarron an "amazing person" who volunteers in the community and is always doing things for others, so Karrmann was glad to see LeBarron take time to do something for herself. A side benefit for Karrmann is that LeBarron since has introduced her to some previously unfamiliar parts of Menomonie.

For LeBarron, the goal served a dual purpose: It motivated her to be diligent about exercise and helped her see and learn more about her community.

The journey was meaningful to her in other ways too.

As she neared the end, LeBarron mourned the death of Carol (Timm) Berger, a friend from Menomonie who had moved to the Twin Cities. LeBarron decided to dedicate her walking project to Berger.

The goal also reminded LeBarron how thankful she is to her 88-year-old mother for long being a good role model about the importance of moving and staying in shape.

"I've always tried to exercise daily, and walking is something you can do any time and any day," she said.

Finally, LeBarron followed through on her plan to make the final leg proceed down an avenue on the east side of Menomonie called Walton — the same as her father's middle name.

Since reaching her goal, LeBarron said she has been walking less and biking and playing tennis more.

But she is getting the urge to take on a new fitness challenge.

"I've been thinking about doing all the trails in Menomonie, walking another city or maybe riding all of the area bike trails," LeBarron said. "I'm not sure yet, but I'll think of something."

When she settles on a new goal, she'll go about accomplishing it the same way she did the last one — one step at a time.