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2nd
Annual WALK! ALABAMA Coming in March to a County Near You
 Auburn,
Feb. 21---Physical activity has been shown to help reduce the
risk for chronic disease. Walk! Alabama was developed
as an eight-week program to address change in behavior of attitude
and action toward walking and physical activity.
" The
program is a fun and risk-free way to burn fat, lower blood
pressure, lose weight, ward off heart disease, strengthen your bones
and muscles, prevent certain cancers, boost your mood and add years
to your life," says Dr. Suzette Jelinek, Extension specialist,
network and marketing, and coordinator of the program.
Walk! Alabama
begins March 4 and runs through April 27. Last year, more than 345
teams and 8,000 individuals participated in the program. Teams were
formed in 29 Alabama counties. On average, each participant lost 2.3
pounds and many walked more than 100 miles. More than 402,000 miles
were walked during the eight-week program.
"The program proved
effective from both an increase in physical activity as well as
individual feelings of well-being by the participants," says
Jelinek. "Walk! Alabama will motivate you to
start and stick with a walking plan. If you are already a walker,
the friendly competition in the plan is a fun way to contribute your
regular walking to a team effort."
How does Walk!
Alabama work?
In each county, teams of
eight friends, neighbors, family members and/or co-workers compete
to see which team can walk the most miles and be the first to reach
850 miles. That's the equivalent of walking across Alabama -- from
Houston County to Lauderdale County and from Baldwin County to
DeKalb County.
"The goal is for
each county to get as many eight-member teams as they can to
compete," says Jelinek. Teams are for everyone, regardless of
age.
There are a lot of team
possibilities. For example, business versus business, or department
versus department within a business, neighborhood versus
neighborhood, moms versus dads, school class versus school class (
i.e., sixth-grade classes), school versus school, teachers versus
students, teachers versus teachers, and churches versus churches. The list goes
on and on. Prizes may be awarded to the first team to reach the
850-mile goal, team with the most miles, individual with the most
miles, etc.
Team members can walk as
a group or individually, says Jelinek. Each team member keeps a log
of his or her miles and reports the total to a team captain each
week. The team's total mileage is tracked weekly on an official Walk!
Alabama map posted in each Extension county office.
To participate, get an
eight-member team together, name the team, choose a team captain,
and fill out a registration form. Forms are free and available at
your county Extension office. Your county Extension office will
notify you when the kickoff celebration for Walk! Alabama
is scheduled.
The program was funded
by FNS, Food Stamps and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.
For interested teams,
official Walk! Alabama t-shirts and pedometers may be
purchased at county Extension offices.
For more information
about Walk! Alabama contact the Alabama Cooperative
Extension System Office in your county.
SOURCE: Dr. Suzette
Jelinek (sjelinek@aces.edu), Extension Specialist, Network and
Marketing, Alabama Cooperative Extension System (334) 844-5355
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