Joyce Lee was once in Harrisonburg, visiting her daughter, when a stranger approached at a restaurant salad bar.

“Are you the lady who walks at the track in Fredericksburg?” asked the stranger.

“Yes,” Lee answered.

“I thought I recognized you,” he said.

People far and wide recognize Lee as the “lady who walks.” In a region where hundreds of people walk daily for exercise, she stands out as one of the most dedicated.

The 65-year-old Fredericksburg resident has walked six miles a day, seven days a week, for more than 10 years.

Lee figures she has traveled more than 21,000 miles, or almost once around the globe at the equator. She is a long-distance athlete, disguised as a gray-haired grandmother.

“I am hooked on walking just like some people get hooked on drugs,” she said. “If I miss, I am just awful to live with.”

A sturdy, solitary figure, Lee circles the track at James Monroe High School with head down, hands cupped and arms swinging. She does six miles in 90 minutes, or 4 miles per hour.

Lee has walked with family, friends and strangers, but mostly by herself.

To be alone, she said, is not to be lonely.

“I haven’t been bored one minute,” she said.

She walks at almost any hour of the day or night, though the early evening is her favorite.

She avoids Walkmans and other electronic diversions. The sounds of daily life are to be savored, she said, even the passing cars on U.S. 1, or the sermons of varsity football coach Richard Serbay.

And when walking is truly a passion, bad weather is never an excuse. Some days, she walks under painted skies and heavenly breezes. Other times, she must step through the snow in the melted footsteps of those who came before.

Lee is just one of the many local walkers who pad away the miles each day at places such as Pratt Park in Stafford County, Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg or Spotsylvania County’s new Virginia Central Trailway.

Each day, the corridors of Spotsylvania Mall host hundreds of walkers—speed walkers, leisure walkers and mothers with strollers.

“There’s probably a good 50 to 75 walkers in the morning,” said Stephanie Gardner, the mall’s assistant marketing director.

Walking is the nation’s second most popular fitness activity, after swimming, according to a study this year by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association.

And its health benefits are well-documented. Walking burns calories, increases bone density, decreases the risk of disease, sharpens memory and relieves stress.

A study published this summer in the New England Journal of Medicine concluded that brisk walking for at least three hours a week reduces the risk of heart trouble in women by more than 30 percent.

Lee turned to walking for its health benefits when she was overweight and having problems with her hip. She struggled at first to complete two laps, or a half-mile, a day. But slowly, gradually, over many months, her mileage increased.

Today, she is an advocate for her sport and what she calls her “pleasure trips.”

“If I had to give up walking, I’d land right up there on that hill,” she said, pointing to Mary Washington Hospital in the distance.

Lee lives near James Monroe on Progress Street, where she and her husband Tom raised six children. He worked at the long-closed FMC plant for most of those years; she was a stay-at-home mom.

Tom Lee doesn’t share his wife’s passion for walking, but in hot weather he brings her water and a snack, waiting patiently in the stands for her to take a break.

Tom Lee also drives his wife to Spotsylvania Mall when she is forced to walk indoors.

Lee walks at the mall when it’s raining hard or when the sunset brings no relief from the heat.

But because of its concrete floor and popcorn smell, the mall is clearly second choice.

“Give me the fresh air,” she said.

Her walking uniform consists of a loose-fitting top and skirt.

“I grew up in a skirt and a dress and never did wear anything else,” she said.

In chilly weather, she adds a pair of hose and a fleece top. No hat, no gloves, no scarf. The cold has never bothered her, she said.

As for shoes, she buys a new pair every year. Her current ones are Reeboks, on sale at $19.99. The next ones will be better, she said. You get what you pay for.

At JM, Lee measures her journey by changing lanes after every lap: eight laps one way, eight laps the other way, and eight laps the first way.

Barbara Rush, who walked with her for five years, recalled the time when the city Recreation Department staged a track meet for children and insisted that Lee walk only in the outside lanes.

Lee kept trying to change lanes, and Rush finally told her, “Joyce, please stay over here. I’ll help you keep count.”

Lee has had several walking partners over the years, but none lasted longer than Rush. Their workouts ended in 1997 when Rush got married.

“She was much more faithful than I was,” Rush said. “I really admire her. I don’t know where she gets the stamina.”

Proof of Lee’s stamina came recently when she went to the doctor for a checkup. Her blood pressure was 114/56. Her pulse: 56.

In all her years of walking, Lee has never had a knee, ankle or hip problem, though there have been some mishaps.

One time, an errant discus, thrown by a member of the JM track team, struck her on the calf. The track coach insisted that she go to the emergency room, but other than a knot on her leg, she was fine.

Another time, about two years ago, she went inside the school to use the bathroom and fell and broke her arm. She missed five days of walking that time.

Lee lost 100 pounds when she started walking and kept it off for years. But in the last year, she has regained much of what she lost.

“I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I just eat a little more than I should,” she said. “I don’t know how much I would weigh if I didn’t walk.”

When someone asks about her walking, Lee sounds like an evangelist, warning of the dangers of watching too much television and taking too many pills.

“Start little and climb big,” she tells them. “Be consistent. Don’t give up.”