Parson paces across America for a cause

An ex-Marine and parson who is walking from Washington state to Washington D.C. to raise funds to fight pulmonary hypertension stepped foot in Havre Wednesday.

Don Stevenson, 79, walks 30 miles a day. He has been walking since 1998 and has accumulated over 50,000 miles under his belt through walking for different causes. He goes by "The Pacing Parson" and raises money for various causes that have affected someone he knows.

He has been walking for this current trip since June 9 and expects to arrive in Silver Spring, Maryland, where the headquarters of the association for which he is raising funds is located, in mid-September.

He walks six days on and takes Sundays off to go to church with his wife, Loretta Stevenson, and rest. He said he feels pretty tired in the middle of the week, but invigorated on Saturday because he knows he gets to take a break the next day.

He added that it does not take an athlete to walk the way he walks.

"It doesn't take some buff person to do that," he said. "All you have to do is have a mind that's going to push you on when the body says 'no, I want to stop.'"

Loretta travels alongside him in their car. Every morning, she drives ahead of him to the next goal Don is walking to and secures a hotel room for the night.

She said while she waits for him to walk to where she is, she maintains camp and takes care of business back home in Auburn, Washington. She does laundry, pays bills, and plays crossword puzzles.

"Just everything I have to do at home, I just have to do it from the car," Loretta said.

Don laughed.

"She does all the work," he said. "I just walk."

Stevenson and his wife stayed in the AmericInn Hotel, which comped their room.

"This is the fourth time he has walked across America," Don's wife said for him after he humbly sold himself short.

He has walked for many different causes for 20 charity walks, including multiple sclerosis, for blind and special needs children and Alzheimer's.

"I could walk across America on my own, or at least try to," Stevenson said. "But I wouldn't have that goal, so I would probably quit before I got out of the county I live in."

To donate to the Pulmonary Hypertension Association on behalf of Stevenson, visit http://www.o2breathe.org/fightPH15.