The Moving Starke County Forward walking challenge is more successful than originally anticipated.
Nancy Dembowski is part of the committee and she says the participants are moving right along.
“You know, we really underestimated the people of Starke County because we started out with a goal of 3,000 miles in hoping we could walk across the United States from the Statue of Liberty to the Golden Gate Bridge – we’ve left that in the rear-view mirror,” said Dembowski. “We’re going to walk Starke County around the world now. Walk, run, bike – whatever activity you’re doing. As of July 8, we are nearly at 9,000 miles which takes us to Tokyo, Japan.”
The next goal is Beijing, China which will be 10,000 miles. The overall goal is now 25,000 miles by Sept. 2.
Dembowski encourages everyone to get those miles reported to the staff at the Wellness Center at IU Health Starke Hospital.
“Please turn in those miles because a lot of you have old miles you haven’t turned in. Let’s get those in and we can have a huge surge and get around the world!” Dembowski said.
There are two walks coming up this month that Ted Hayes says will be a great chance to network with other walkers in the program and to log more steps in the journey around the world. The first one during the Starke County Fair.
“Next week, on Tuesday, July 16, we’re going to have a walk at the Starke County Fair and I believe that is at 6 p.m. at the open class building. Julie Butus will be out there to greet us as we get out there and do our walking. Mayor Chambers, who walks a lot – about four or five miles a day, has arranged for us to walk on Thursday, July 25 at 6 p.m. at Wythogan Park,” stated Hayes.
If you haven’t signed up yet, Dembowski says it’s not too late.
“We’re taking applications all the way along. You can start anytime. It’s not a huge contest. Everybody just needs to get out and get moving. If you have two miles, that’ll help us on our way and plus it will get people who haven’t been active up and moving and that’s the whole idea,” added Dembowski.
For more information, visit any library branch in Starke County or call Heather Skelly at IU Health Starke Hospital at (574) 772-1272, or Julie Butus at Purdue Extension Starke County at (574) 772-9141.
Click here to view the Moving Starke County Forward Walking Challenge Map.
