Marathon Community Wellness Challenge : Walk the Shores of Lake Superior
MARATHON, ON – May 2nd, the Marathon area communities will begin our seven week Community Challenge to increase our levels of daily physical activity. There has been a tremendous response from area residents with 48 teams (over 375 participants) participating, which makes up over 10% of our population!
The challenge is for each participant to accumulate 10,000 steps each day or to increase their step count by 10% each week. By aiming for 10,000 steps every day, each team of eight will virtually walk the entire shoreline of Lake Superior (a total of 2 110 kilometers or over 2.6 million steps) in 47 days! Each week we will track team progress and work towards our individual goals.
The “10,000 Steps Challenge” is a project that originated in Australia that aims to raise awareness and increase levels of physical activity to achieve health benefits and reduce the risks associated with physical inactivity. The challenge was created to encourage workplaces and communities to become more active by adding extra steps into their daily routines. The Marathon Cross-Sector Health Promotion Committee is very excited to bring the “10,000 Steps Challenge” to Marathon with a local flavour of “Walking the Shores of Lake Superior”.
“There are so many health benefits from physical activity, from helping to prevent heart disease and many cancers, to decreasing the pain of fibromyalgia to improving mood, and decreasing insomnia.” Notes Dr. Sarah Newbery, family physician at Marathon Family Health Team, “We hope that by encouraging people in our area to increase their activity, they will experience many of the benefits of exercise, both in the short and long term, and with running this challenge over 7 weeks it may help lead to a “habit of exercise”.”
Throughout the challenge there will be community events for teams to both join together in some fun and to encourage each other to reach their personal goals. Weekly walks will be held to help participants add in extra steps throughout their week. On May 2nd, the first weekly walk will be to Peninsula Golf Course where Brett Redden, resident Canadian PGA Professional, will be waiting to offer us golf tips and use of the driving range. Free workshops in things like yoga, and resistance training, will also be held throughout the challenge by community experts for participants to learn about something new, try a new activity, and discover the many possibilities to increase daily physical activity!
Let’s get active!
To learn more about our Community Challenge, please contact:
- Naomi Giuliano, Community Health Promotion Coordinator
Marathon Family Health Team
