The ability to walk a quarter mile can predict lifespan, heart disease and disabilities in elderly people, according to a new University of Pittsburgh study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Six years after surveying more than 3,000 elderly people, the Pitt study found that those who could complete a quarter mile walk had a death rate almost half that of those who couldn't. They also had lower rates of heart disease and were three times less likely to get a disability that limits their mobility.

Even people who can't walk a quarter mile can still benefit from exercise, said lead author Dr. Anne B. Newman, a professor of epidemiology at Pitt's Graduate School of Public Health and a professor of medicine at Pitt's School of Medicine.

“The idea is not, ‘If you can't do this then forget it,' the idea is that if you can do a little more wherever you are, if you can be a little more fit it will help you,” Newman said.

Of those that completed the walk, people who did it faster had even lower death and disease rates.

Five times a week, Max Blasiak, 68, of Oakland, walks about three miles around the oval in Schenley Park. He started a few years ago when he was diagnosed with diabetes and said he's definitely noticed and improvement in his health.

“When I first started walking I'd do one time around, maybe two, but I'd keep increasing and it got easier,” he said.

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