An 88-year-old woman from Colorado Springs has spent the past twelve years walking. Saturday Martha Lilly Michel reached her goal of 10-thousand miles. She did it in memory of her late husband and former Colorado College Professor, Dr. Lester Michel.

Lester lived at an Alzheimer center for three years and when Martha came to visit him they would go on walks together around a pond. Martha calculated that five laps around that pond measured one mile and so after Lester died she started keeping track of her walks.

Finally after 12 years she hit the 10-thousand mile mark. "I feel closer to Lester when I'm outside walking around the pond; it brings me great comfort, so I continued to walk," Martha said.

Martha's dedication and determination comes with no surprise to her family. A mother of five, she continues to have a zest for life and has proven to be a tremendous role model for her eighteen grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren. Martha graduated from Perdue University in 1942 with a certificate in Home Economics and Physical Education. She and her husband built their five bedroom house together in Colorado Springs where they raised their family and lived for fifty-two years.