Photo by Joselyn King Jeff Knight, CEO and president of The Health Plan, right, and company mascot Newton the apple rev up employees Wednesday for the launch of the Mountaineer Mile Walk, a walk through downtown Wheeling kicking off a statewide campaign to encourage exercise and healthy lifestyles.

WHEELING — Employees at The Health Plan in West Virginia showed Wednesday they are willing to walk a “Mountaineer Mile” and lead the way toward improving health and fitness throughout the state.

The Health Plan kicked off its version of the Mountaineer Mile on Wednesday at its Wheeling and Charleston offices. The company’s move toward exercise was inspired by West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s Mountaineer Mile initiative, which encourages state residents to get out and walk in state parks.

“Today is going to be a fun event because we actually brought all of our employees back to the office on Jan. 1, and this is an opportunity to do something together as a team and as an entire company,” explained Jeff Knight, CEO and president of The Health Plan. “It will also get us into healthy living and some exercise while we do it.”

Knight said “almost everybody” who works in the building came out to walk on Wednesday, though a few did stay back “to answer the phones.”

The company reported 118 employees participated in the walk in Wheeling, while another 40 walked from the company’s office in Charleston.

Knight hopes employees at The Health Plan continue to walk regularly, perhaps every day on their lunch hour. Extended lunch breaks will be available upon request, providing flexibility for staff to prioritize their well-being and “go the extra mile,” according to the company.

“As a group, we’ll see if we do it more frequently,” Knight said. “We don’t know yet.”

Knight noted he personally is seeking to exercise more.

Knight was inspired to organize a Mountaineer Mile Walk when he attended Morrisey’s speech at Independence Hall in Wheeling last month. During the speech, the governor spoke of his Mountaineer Mile initiative, which encourages state residents there to get out and walk regularly. The program has designated certain trails in every state park for that purpose.

“I thought this was a great opportunity for us to piggy-back on his initiative,” Knight said. “Obviously, this is not in the state parks, but I thought we could do something in the city and hopefully get other businesses to participate, as well.”

Knight said The Health Plan invited Morrisey to join their walk in Charleston. While he was not able to attend, members of his staff agreed to participate.