Thomas Kline, a former vice president of Pfizer Inc., shown on a visit to the Arctic Circle in Iceland. Contributed photo by Thomas Kline.Take a moment to ponder the thought of walking 85,000 miles.
That’s like hiking from New York City to Los Angeles 35 times. The distance is more than twice the circumference of the planet Earth.
It has taken University of Chattanooga graduate Thomas Kline, 77, a lifetime to log 85,000 miles on foot, but the former engineer and pharmaceutical company executive has kept meticulous records to prove his steps.
Kline, a retired vice president of Pfizer Inc., has written about his adventures walking in more than 60 countries in a new book called, “Walking 85,000 Miles to Aide Humanity and Have Fun.”
He once walked 6,500 miles, in stages, from the northernmost tip of Alaska to South Florida to raise money for malaria relief. As recently as last year, Kline visited Iceland to meander around the arctic circle. He has walked the New York City marathon 32 times.