The Tooele High School track isn’t just full of high school cross-country runners, cheerleaders or band members on a warm summer morning. Local residents take advantage of the track throughout the year to help get in shape or simply start their morning off with a brisk walk.

Friends Teresa Hansen and Teresa Elton started walking everyday to give them more energy when preparing for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints girls camp. Now, they walk everyday and like the THS track because it’s “cushy and easy on the knees and legs,” Hansen said.

They walk an hour each day but don’t keep track of how many miles they walk. They started this summer and plan on going as much as they can throughout the summer and into the fall.

“It gives us more energy and it’s a stress reliever,” Elton said while walking the track Wednesday morning.

Hansen, who has five children, said that after walking she goes home feeling kinder and more patient with her kids.

Hansen and Elton walk against the way everyone else walks so they can see everyone else and say hi.

“Everyone is so friendly,” Elton said. She added that they see all kinds of people on the track, from young moms who push their children in strollers to older men who run.

Tami Vorwaller and Jody Hussey are two women who bring their children with them to the track most mornings. They walk from their homes to the track and back giving them an hour and a half morning workout.

They started a month ago so they could get in shape and lose weight. They also have another friend, Lynnette Nieberger, who they call their trainer. She makes them run the bleachers, do crunches and skips.

“Without her, we’re boring,” Hussey said Wednesday morning.

Vorwaller and Hussey are stay-at-home moms with two children and they agree that walking the track is a good way to start their day.

“It gets you going,” Hussey said.

“We used to come up and walk a few years ago,” Vorwaller said. “But we got busy and we are just getting back into it.”

As they’ve been trying to get back into walking on a regular basis they had many blisters and gimped around the first week, Vorwaller said.

“We’re on the mend now,” she added.

They also see many characters circling the track most mornings. One of which is a little old man they described as always wearing a cowboy hat. There’s another older gentleman who walks so quickly he “laps us,” Vorwaller said.

“He’s pretty consistent,” she said. “He’s so sweet and friendly, really tan too.”

All four women agree that walking in the morning is a great way to start their day while giving them exercise. The track also provides them with a place to meet new people who also want to exercise and have a brisk morning walk or run.

“After walking I accomplish more during the day,” Hansen said.

missy@tooeletranscript.com