Exercise is very important to me, but by the time I turned 50 I started having back problems and gradually it got worse and I was really out of shape.explains the pensioner.

Markus Shupe therefore began to walk frequently and began exploring the neighborhoods closest to his home. He now has to travel by car to more distant places to reach his goal.

Health problems made his career difficult. Victim of two heart attacks in a row, in 2020 the walker temporarily stopped his regular walks. I didn’t know if I would be able to exercise againhe says.

” [Mes docteurs] told me that walking was absolutely the best thing I could do to stay alive. It’s hard to find better motivation. »

The walker records all his routes in a paper atlas of the city so as not to forget certain streets. When I see new roads, I add them to my maphe assures.

With this thoroughness Markus Shupe quietly became an expert on Calgary geography. “I know the whole city pretty well from the page numbers in my atlas. When someone says to me, “I’ll do that Marlborough“I can tell you it’s on page 33, for example.”

According to him, Calgary is very accessible for pedestrians. Markus Shupe however, prefers older neighborhoods with sidewalks on both sides of the street over newer neighborhoods on the outskirts.

With joy he looks at the architecture of the houses in the different parts of the city. His adventures have also allowed him to spot urban wildlife, from moose and owls to coyotes and deer.

Even if his challenge is not over yet, Markus Shupe already has plans for the future. I think after I finish all the streets in the city I will try to walk all the trailshe said.

With information from Tom Ross