At a time when increased concern about global warming coincides with incredibly high gas prices, what better way is there to cut pollution and gas spending than by walking? Intramural Power Walking, the newest intramural sport at Ames High, is truly the answer to all our prayers. Now you can protect the environment while getting exercise at the same time. Many people say they don’t like getting off that couch of theirs and exercising because its useless, but the real reason is because they aren’t ready for all the intense benefits that exercise can give you. Some people say it’s because of the recent cold weather that they can’t get out of bed to do something. IPW has replied to the calls of all the unready people by giving them the means to achieve physical greatness. IPW is led by seniors Anne Todey and Clark Ennis, and sophomore Devin Becraft. Becraft expects Ipw to begin in the next one or two weeks. This IPW group was all started with a little chat among friends, as Becraft recalls. “Well I was in the back lobby one day with Clark and Anne.” Becraft said. “My memory tells me that Clark randomly said, ‘How sweet would that be if we started a power walking club?’ Of course, Anne and I went nuts over that idea. “I got involved with power walking because I’m just looking for some fun. We plan to tear up every sidewalk in the City of Ames with our power walking abilities.” Why power walking? “We wanted a sport that was extremely dorky, but for everyone,” Becraft replied. According to Facebook, there are currently 63 members in Ipw. However, Becraft says the numbers are expected to rise as soccer and track have ended. “I just hope that enough people join so that our yearbook picture won’t make us look ridiculously lame,” Power Walking is the new way to run. By being only slightly less beneficial and slightly slower, it is nearly as fun and athletically engaging as running. However some of the bonuses of power walking is that you get more exercise than just walking but you don’t sweat as much as running. You can power walk for much longer than you can run. Also power walking is commonly considered more attractive than just plain old walking. As you can see, Intramural Power Walking is taking a stand against those stubborn exercise slackers. With groups like this, in the near future we will all have muscular defined bodies. It may even provide solutions to much more pressing problems, such as obesity, and a slew of environmental issues. We can only wait and see.