Our 2013 Spring Walking Challenge is being held April 8h through June 2nd. The challenge is a continuation of Livingston County Health Center’s “Walk Chillicothe” Project.Walk Chillicothe was funded last year by a Healthy Eating, Active Living grant through the Heartland Foundation. The grant period has ended, but the Health Center hopes to continue many of the efforts of the project without funding.
This year, the Health Center is offering a sort of “walking club” two days a week at Simpson Park over the noon hour. Everyone is welcomed to meet health center staff at the park at 12:15 on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the challenge. The kick off for the walking club will be next Wednesday, April 3rd during Public Health Week. If you haven’t signed up for the challenge by that point-come to the park and sign up and receive an exercise log. The walking club is an effort to encourage those who don’t have a walking partner or need a reason to get out and walk.
The requirements are simple: pledge to walk 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week for 8 weeks. Record walking on an exercise log and turn it in after the 8 weeks to be eligible for the prize drawing. Even if you fall short of your goal, every entry submitted will be put in the drawing.
The walking challenge is an attempt to get people motivated to start a walking habit that will be established after the eight week period. Incentives will be offered along the way to encourage participants to continue walking for their health.
Local worksites are also being targeted in the challenge to encourage employers to promote a healthy lifestyle to their workers.
Our project, “Walk Chillicothe” is a systematic approach to promoting walking in the community by raising awareness of healthy eating and active living principles through quarterly media campaigns featuring local residents, quarterly table tent campaigns, three community walking events, participation in two large events for families, bi-annual 8 week walking challenges targeting local residents and workplaces and an oversized full-color bookmark highlighting local walking routes residents can utilize to stay healthy.
“Walk Chillicothe” has planned a year long timeline of carefully planned events to create a continuous stream of awareness and opportunity for local residents to start the habit of walking. Our project appeals to a large audience, because walking is a type of exercise most people can safely and inexpensively do to stay active. Our events target a varied audience from children to seniors to pet owners to families, in order to plant the seed that walking is possible for everyone and offer an easy solution for sedentary people to take the first step to active living.
By promoting walking, individuals and organizations plant the seeds for initiating change by alerting others to the benefits of walking and creating awareness about local walking routes and walking promotion events that can foster healthier, more livable communities.
Our idea for a community pride type project that would benefit health has really taken off . We couldn’t have pulled it off without the support of local organizations like the City of Chillicothe, Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Chillicothe and Community 2000. We are also utilizing the Community Wellness Committee and the Livingston County Obesity Prevention Project, that already have the goal of increasing physical activity and promoting healthy eating, to build a broader reaching base to implement our objectives.
Livingston County Health Center is an equal opportunity provider. Livingston County Health Center 800 Adam Drive Chillicothe, MO 64601 Phone: 660-646-5506 Fax: 660-646-4485
