JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- While many people see the Capitol as the grandest of state government buildings, others regard it as something of a fieldhouse -- the perfect place to walk a couple of laps indoors.

On any given work day, dozens of speedwalkers zip along the corridors, sometimes maneuvering through constituents clustered outside legislators' offices or dodging lobbyists chatting near elevator doors.

"Kids are more of an obstacle. You have to watch out for them," said a 42-year-old woman who since 1999 has made a point of trying to walk 20 laps a day through the halls.

The woman's white sneakers squeaked on the ash-colored marble floor as she walked swiftly through crowds of tourists during a recent lunchtime break, passing dark wooden benches and closed office doors.

"It mostly helps you relieve the stress," she said. "You can come over here and see all the different people."

She was a typical walker -- female, wearing white socks over her hosiery and shy about giving her name.

Not so Mary Haldiman, a 17-year statehouse legislative assistant, who is proud of her routine.

"I do it for the exercise to help stay in shape," Haldiman said. "We've been doing this for years."

She added, those of "us working with the legislative session are almost too busy to get the time to do it."

As with many governmental issues, controversy attends Capitol walking.

Sponsored competition

Some walkers say five laps around the building equals one mile; others say it takes six.

To quell the dispute, a group investigated and found that five laps around the third floor plus a lap around an inner hallway on the second floor equals one mile. Six times around the first floor is just over one mile.

The House's human resource department sponsored a competition last year to see which group of legislative staffers could walk the farthest.

About 40 Capitol employees collectively walked 5,000 miles. The team that collectively walked the farthest logged 702 miles, The group's spokeswoman said 90 percent of those miles were inside the Capitol.

"It's good when people can take their lunch to be active," said Tracie Booth, a personal trainer at a Jefferson City health club. "They're moving, that's the important thing."

Booth warns that as with any workout, the routine needs to vary.

The Capitol walkers needn't worry. If they desire a venue change, they can cross the street to the Truman State Office Building, which houses the state's tourism and finance departments among others. There, too, an exercise-minded crowd takes to the hallways each day.

Historian Gary Kremer said the walking phenomenon doesn't have any historical significance to the Capitol. Of course, Kremer said, he's not aware of anyone who has really studied the matter.

"It reflects Americans becoming concerned with physical fitness within the last 20 years," said Kremer, a history professor at William Woods University in Fulton.

A century ago, he added, "it wouldn't have even occurred to people."