Belgian scientists recently studied the amazing Sherpas. Sherpas are Himalayan porters who are famed for carrying heavy loads slowly up steep mountainous inclines. Male and female Sherpas carry loads above and beyond their body weights from before dawn to after dusk.

The Belgian study included children as young as eleven and mature Sherpas as old as sixty-eight. The scientists witnessed that the Sherpa's walk for 15 seconds and rest for 45 seconds.

The scientists believe that the integration of the Sherpa's head into their carrying system has raised their centre of gravity. Somehow this allows them to carry heavier loads more easily.

I have always been a walker, for as long as I can remember. Born to parents both from poor Dublin families, a car was, both in their youth and in mine, something of a luxury. And so we walked. My father, as a young sales representative, had a beat up car that got him from A to B, but my mother, my elder brother and I were left to walk until years later, when my mother learned to drive.

And though she loved her little mini car, her youthful walking days remained with her, and so we often went walking for pleasure. Only an hour’s drive from the countryside, we would escape Dublin every Sunday to go driving – until we reached where we were going, and would get out and walk.

But like most teenagers finding their way in the world, I rebelled against this family tradition, and spent a few years rolling my eyes in disdain whenever the pointless exertion of walking was suggested. Until, that is, like many teenage girls, I became aware of my developing female form, and began to undertake whatever methods I had to keep it under control.