Gov. Terry Branstad Will Join West Des Moines Students on Final Leg of 58,000-Mile Walk

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds will accompany students and staff at at 2:30 p.m. Friday as they take the final steps in Westridge Walks.

The activity was developed in response to Branstad’s “Start Somewhere Walk” in September.

In that activity, the Westridge students and staff set a goal equivalent to walking 1 million football fields, calculating how far each would have to walk to reach the goal, according to a news release.

Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield donated pedometers and Extended Learning Program students at the kindergarten through sixth-grade school created a spreadsheet to track the steps.

What's the best way for busy people to increase the number of steps they take each day and get going on their own "Start Somewhere Walk?" Tell us below in comments.

After learning how to convert steps into miles, they created a 12-foot-by-8-foot map to chart the school’s progress. To date, they have walked the equivalent of circling the Earth 2.5 times – more than 58,000 miles and 820 million steps.

Along the way, the school was recognized by First Lady Michelle Obama at the event at Wells Fargo Arena and has been featured on the Healthiest State Initiative website.