Ann Vote walked 12 hours and over 50K steps in search of clarity on Friday, May 8. (Photo by Brittany Boyum)

NEW ULM — On Friday, May 8, local motivational speaker Ann Vote challenged herself to walk for 12-hours.

Vote was inspired to do this after seeing an Instagram video of someone attempting the challenge and after reading “The 12-Hour Walk” by Colin O’Brady.

In O’Brady’s book he challenges individuals to walk for 12 uninterrupted hours, unplugged, starting from your front door.

Vote said her main reason for attempting the challenge was to find clarity, but also she liked the idea of being outside and doing something she loves. She found the idea of walking in nature for 12 hours to be exciting.

Before she committed, she took weeks to consider different routes. She considered the Superior Hiking Trail and the Root River Valley near Lanesboro but worried about safety and timing because her daughter had a play that weekend that kept her close to town.

In the end, she chose the Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail, starting at the wayside rest in Elysian and heading toward Faribault. The route was safe and close enough that a friend in Mankato could pick her up if needed.

She packed a backpack with extra water, snacks, layering clothes and supplies, set her phone to airplane mode, and committed to one rule: no distractions.

“I wanted a very distraction-free area,” she said. “I didn’t want places to eat or people driving by or seeing things that would make me think of the kids at school.”

Vote typically walks at a 3-mph pace and aimed for roughly 30 miles, with planned stops to eat and journal every hour.

The night before the walk, Vote had been in heels for four hours at a speaking event. By mile six on the trail, her right foot began to hurt. She had a bunion and it was agony. Vote could barely put weight on it.

“That literally crushed my spirit,” she said. “I was so excited to tell my son that I walked over 30 miles during my twelve-hour walk.”

Then she remembered advice from a doctor years earlier. She rolled up a sock to cushion her big toe, wrapped it around her foot, and kept moving. At Sakatah Lake State Park she soaked her feet in the icy water for 30 minutes, pivoted her route, and hiked the park trails instead.

The heavy backpack she had carried “just in case” became part of a larger realization.

“One of the greatest ‘aha’ moments that I had is sometimes we carry things to help us and protect us, but in reality, it might actually be hurting us,” Vote said. “Because we’re always planning for the worst-case scenario, we can’t get to the best-case scenario without a lot of trust.”

Around the eight-and-a-half hour mark she had an emotional breakthrough. She confronted personal baggage she had been carrying and business decisions she had been avoiding. As someone who serves clients through multiple programs, Vote struggled with focusing her business on one specialty, instead of offering many different programs. 

The walk gave her the answer she needed: her next project will weave all her speaking content into one focused offering.

“I definitely got some clarity,” she said. “I am really excited to get started on that.”

She also realized she had grown comfortable with her own company.

“If you would have told me five years ago that I was going to do a 12-hour walk alone, I would have laughed so hard,” she said. “Over the years, my own personal journey has really brought me to this place where I can be alone, and I like talking to myself and I like thinking things through on my own.”

The weather was 74 degrees with a cool breeze. At the 10-hour mark, back at her car with a throbbing foot and seizing muscles, she nearly quit. Then she remembered her purpose.

“I told myself I was going to do two more miles,” she said. “And after a while, I looked at the clock and I had only gone a half mile, and it took me almost 30 minutes.” She pushed through anyway, finishing her journey in the final 10 minutes.

She logged just over 21 miles and more than 50,000 steps, tracked by her phone after both her 12-Hour Walk app and Fitbit glitched.

Two days later, Vote woke up energized and nearly pain-free. Soaking her feet in the icy lake water at Sakatah Lake State Park and later at Lake Francis in Elysian had done the job. More important, the mental shift stuck.

“I’m feeling really good today,” Vote said. “Kind of back in the business chair today, getting a lot of emails and exciting stuff put together with different clients. So yeah, it feels energizing today. I’m excited for what comes next and the clarity that I gained on Friday to move some really cool ideas forward for this fall. Stay tuned for that.”

Vote said she recommends the experience to anyone seeking clarity in business or life.

“You start thinking about it, and it really kind of forces you to sit in that uncomfortable feeling,” she said. “You get clear on why it’s uncomfortable, what you want to overcome, and why overcoming that uncomfortability is actually going to get you closer to what you want.”

O’Brady’s book and the free 12-Hour Walk app make the challenge accessible to anyone. All it takes is commitment and a safe route.

“I think this opportunity, this experience of a 12-hour walk, is really for anybody looking for clarity,” Vote said. Reach her at impact@annvote.com.