USU students embark on 24-hour walk

While most Utah State University students were sleeping, a small group planned to spend an entire day walking nonstop from Logan toward Preston, Idaho, starting at 3 p.m. Jan. 30 and ending at 3 p.m. Jan. 31.  

The 24-hour walk was organized by USU senior Austin Steinkamp, a wildlife ecology major who has spent much of his life walking long distances. Although informal, the event required a great deal of endurance and drew interest from other students eager to test their limits. 

“I’ve always loved walking,” Steinkamp said. “I feel like when I’m walking, I can remove the distractions and strip my mind down to the bare necessities.” 

Steinkamp said the walk was not his first experience with extreme distances. He recently completed a 24-hour walk on his own, covering far more ground than he expected. 

“I actually did it last weekend,” Steinkamp said. “I’ve been walking my entire life, but I’ve never done a 24-hour walk until recently. And yeah, I ended up doing 66 miles. I surprised myself.” 

For Steinkamp, walking is not about speed or traditional training. 

“This isn’t, like, an exercise thing,” Steinkamp said. “Walking, to me, is my happy place.” 

The route headed north toward Idaho, largely along roads and highways. Steinkamp said much of the walking occurred overnight. 

“When you’re out there at, like, 3 a.m. in the middle of the dark, it’s so incredibly simple,” Steinkamp said. “It’s refreshing, it’s energizing, it’s cold. It’s very cold.” 

To prepare, Steinkamp said he relies on layers, food and water. 

“A lot of coats, a lot of layers, thermals, and then food and water, lots of food, probably two days’ worth of food in this single day,” Steinkamp said.  

Steinkamp hoped to make the experience communal by inviting others to join him. Though he did not expect much interest, several students reached out. 

“I was expecting nothing at all,” Steinkamp said. “I’m really just curious to see if there’s anyone else out there who shares this idea.” 

One of those students is Callum Olmer, a senior studying nutrition science, who said he contacted Steinkamp after seeing a flyer advertising the walk. 

“I’m very big into my cardio,” Olmer said. “I do a lot of endurance running. The idea of ultra-marathons always fascinated me. I was actually planning on walking for 24 hours straight at some point just to see if I could.” 

Olmer said seeing the flyer confirmed others shared his interest. 

“When I saw the poster, I was like, ‘There’s someone as crazy as me out there,’” Olmer said. “’I should definitely do it with them.’” 

Unlike Steinkamp, Olmer approached the walk with a performance mindset and started planning his nutrition carefully ahead of time. 

“I’m trying to talk to some of my nutrition professors about the best snacks for endurance,” Olmer said. “You’re going to need [3,000] to 5,000 calories because you’re burning up so many calories.” 

Olmer said preparation is essential to avoid hitting a physical limit. 

“If you run out of your sugar stores, glycogen, you’re cooked,” he said. “You’re not going to be able to walk any farther.” 

Both participants said the mental challenge was just as demanding as the physical one, preferring to focus on their own thoughts rather than listening to music. 

“I don’t want my performance to dwindle if I’m in a place without music,” Olmer said. “So, I just, like, do that as kind of the baseline.” 

Steinkamp said walking without distractions leads to a deeper mental state. 

“You reach this point where you’re not even really thinking,” he said. “You’re just living in the purest form.” 

Olmer echoed that idea, emphasizing the lack of stimulation. 

“I think a lot of kids in our generation can’t go a minute without stimulation,” Olmer said. “I think the mental aspect of just doing it like no music, anything like that, no tech for a day, just walking.” 

For Olmer, the appeal lies in the simplicity of the challenge. 

“It’s kind of like the flow state,” Olmer said. “You’re just doing one simple thing for hours and hours.” 

Steinkamp said the goal goes beyond endurance or distance. 

“I want to inspire people,” Steinkamp said. “I want to give people opportunities to push themselves.”