Geek exercise challenge: Walk to Rivendell

Out-of-shape? Middle Earth geek? Why not walk to Rivendell, and join a worldwide community of Hobbit-fancying power-walkers, logging your daily paces as you leg the distances traversed by the hairy-foot set.

Walk, run, hike, bike, blade, swim - if you can measure the distance, you can do this challenge. Keep a log, and record your daily or weekly miles and the type of exercise. For walkers and hikers, you might want to invest in a walking meter, they look like wristwatches. Otherwise, you can estimate your distance at 1 mile for every 20 minutes of brisk walking on a flat surface. Our original suggested deadline was the opening of The Return of the King, December 17, 2003. As this glorious day is now past, we are setting new goals, new times:
If you would like to set a long term distance goal, choose any one of the following...
1625 miles: Take the road home with the hobbits from Minas Tirith to Hobbiton.
* 535 miles from Minas Tirith to Isengard
* 693 miles from Isengard to Rivendell.
* 397 miles from Rivendell to Bag End.

Link (Thanks, Bear!)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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dishliquid

Some one should make a Facebook app so you can show off your progress to your friends.
Anonymous

According to the book, (which I don’t have with me at the moment, so I’m trusting this time line‘s accuracy) the hobbits walked those 1625 miles from Minas Tirith to Hobbiton between Aug 14 & Nov 3. That’s a bit less than 20 miles a day. Quite a bit of walking, especially when you consider how short their legs were.:)
Not unrealistic, though; you just know that’s the sort of thing Tolkien would be a stickler for. Er, “for which Tolkien would be a stickler.”
wray

You can use the Google Earth tape measure tool to calculate the length of your route. Accurate and geeky.