Girls Who Walk celebrates 3 years of social bonding in Pittsburgh
Hanna Webster / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
It was a clear and unseasonably warm October evening on Pittsburgh’s North Side, and more than a dozen women stood at Lake Elizabeth’s banks, pensive and with sketchbooks in hand.
Margo Kimble, a 31-year-old Swissvale resident, told those assembled to observe their environment and sketch what they saw for 30 seconds. The founder of Pittsburgh Girls Who Walk, Kimble was leading a one-hour evening meditation stroll. The point of the walk, she said, was to gradually extend the time during stops so walkers would begin to notice more details in their surroundings — a kind of mindfulness exercise.
“I don’t want to hear anyone talk themselves down about their drawings,” cooed Kimble. “There is no wrong way to do this.”
The social group, which recently celebrated its third anniversary, has been a vehicle for fast friendships for many of its members. People have found bridesmaids through the group, and Kimble said she was even someone’s maid of honor.
Walking with a friend, loved one or group has shown to reduce loneliness and improve health. A WHO report in June identified loneliness as a widespread global issue and linked social connection to healthier and longer living. And a large review conducted in 2013, which examined 42 independent studies, found a slew of benefits of walking groups, including for heart rate, blood pressure and depression.
With chapters in other cities, including Philadelphia and Chicago, Kimble started the Pittsburgh iteration hoping to create a unique community for women. Since its inception, she said the group gets between 10 and 20 walkers each week, not including other social events she coordinates. Walks occur every Sunday with additional events sprinkled throughout the week.
View this post on Instagram
Amanda Notarantonio, for one, credits Pittsburgh Girls Who Walk with her entire social circle.
“It’s where I’ve met all my friends,” said the 26-year-old Shadyside resident, who moved to Pittsburgh in January and started attending the walks in the spring.
Group members often break off and attend trivia nights together, take weekend hikes or grab drinks at a happy hour.
“I’ve left a lot of the walks just feeling really fulfilled and really proud of myself for putting myself out there to meet new people in a new city, because that’s intimidating,” said Notarantonio.
It’s been especially fruitful for those who just moved to Pittsburgh, like Notarantonio, and who are young and hoping to cultivate a circle of friends outside online dating and friendship apps.
Alli Schroeder, 22 and a substitute teacher for Moon Township, graduated from Penn State University in May and was enjoying the community during the meditation walk, her second outing with the group (she had attended a yoga session a few days before). A graduate of English and women’s studies programs, she went online looking for a book club or similar social group when she found Girls Who Walk. Going against the grain, Schroeder wrote poetry in her sketchbook while others drew the intricate doorframes and brick foundations of the row houses in the Mexican War Streets.
“Sometimes it can be hard to put yourself out there and meet people, so having a community like this is a really great option,” she said. “Everyone is just so nice and joyous. It’s really nice to be around people who are like that when sometimes life isn’t like that.”
Amanda Motto, 41, moved to Pittsburgh less than two months ago from Houston, and found the group via Facebook. She’s enjoyed seeing the city through the group and meeting women in her new hometown.
“I’ve made a friend literally every time I’ve come,” she said.
Girls Who Walk welcomes anyone who identifies as a woman or nonbinary, regardless of age or skill level.
Devon Abramson, a 29-year-old Springdale resident and researcher at a bank, has been relieved to be able to bring her young daughter, Vivenna, on walks. She started coming to events in the spring.
“I love that it’s usually public places. I can bring a stroller to most events, no problem,” she said. “It’s been nice because they’re really chill about me having her.”
While some walking groups prioritize more strenuous exercise, Girls Who Walk tends to choose social events or light walking routes throughout the inner city. The meditation walk traversed a few streets of the North Side, past City of Asylum, into the Mexican War Streets, and back to Lake Elizabeth in Allegheny Commons Park.
R.K. Yanalitis, 24, of Swissvale, nearly had to get her foot amputated after an Ultimate frisbee injury when she was 16. It took her three years to recover, and after she could walk again, she traveled the city’s streets on her own. Yanalitis said she was relieved to find the group, so she could have people to walk alongside.
She also studied mechanical engineering at Penn State and said there were no other women in her graduate department. She’s happy now to have found a community of women and nonbinary people through Girls Who Walk.
Girls Who Walk is growing, with a robust social media presence and brand partnerships that Kimble facilitates. At the conclusion of the North Side walk, Kimble and her right-hand, Cassie Gillen, a Pittsburgh native, passed out gift bags with lotion from The Ordinary, Ollipop prebiotic sodas and sour treats from Fruit Riot, all donated for free to Kimble to support her cause of uplifting women and bringing them together.
The group is planning to go antiquing in the future and is hosting a Halloween party and costume contest in Oakmont. Kimble said she hopes Girls Who Walk can be a lighthearted and surefire way to meet a diverse group of people.
“With the state of the economy and the state of politics, we’re really just looking to provide that true third space in a time when it’s getting harder to do so,” she said. “It’s not just about going for a walk with people. It’s about building those lasting connections.”