National Pizza Day – Walk Around Grand Junction and Burn it Off
Saturday, February 9, is National Pizza Day. You should celebrate. Let's say you enjoy one slice of pizza from one of Grand Junction's pizza joints. How far would you have to walk to burn it off? Where in Grand Junction would you end up?
How Many Calories Are in a Slice of Pizza?
According to Canstar Blue, the average slice of pizza has 206.88 calories. That's approximately 10% of a man's average daily calorie intake.
How Fast Do People Walk?
According to Yahoo Answers, the average person walks at a rate of roughly three miles per hour. I'm thinking I average around four miles per hour, but that could be slowing in my old(er) age. So, we'll use the average speed.
Math + Stuff
Canstar Blue determined a person walking at a casual pace will burn approximately 3.5 kcals per minute. At that rate, it would take roughly 59 minutes to burn off the piece of pizza.
Most people walk about three miles per hour. You would need to walk roughly three miles to burn the calories found in one slice of pizza.
Where the Heck Will We End Up?
We'll begin our journey at the intersection of 12th and North Avenue in Grand Junction, where almost every pizza shop in the valley can be found.
Let's say you head west from 12th and North. Ultimately, you would wind up at the satellite restaurants on the south side of Mesa Mall.
Let's say you walked straight north. Eventually, you would wind up at the First Presbyterian Church on 27 1/2 road, not too far from the Safeway on Horizon Drive.
Heading east from 12th and North Avenue, your course would ultimately take you to 3061 I-70 Business Loop, just down the road from Central High School.
Lastly, if one were to head south, they would eventually wind up at Randy's Southside Diner on Orchard Mesa. Keep in mind, heading south requires a bit of a detour in order to get to the 5th Street Bridge. That darned Colorado River kind of gets in the way.
This is for You Gluttons
Let's go for broke and say you eat the ENTIRE pizza by yourself -- all eight slices! In that event, you'll need to walk a full 24 miles to burn it off. That leads you straight to the middle of the desert west of Mack, Colorado.
Hey, when Country Jam rolls around this June, just eat an entire pizza, and then start walking.
So, the next time you sit down to eat a pizza, ask yourself, "is it really worth it?" That's a lot of walking. Then again, if you love to walk, perhaps it really is worth it. Crunch the numbers, and make plans for your next tour of the valley following a delicious pizza from Grand Junction's "Pizza Alley."