by Kelly Rogge
Kansas City Kansas Community College is inviting students, staff, faculty and community members to participate in the Walk Across Kansas Incentive Program.
The goal of the eight-week program is to improve the health and wellness of each participant by “walking” enough miles to go across the state of Kansas. Teams will include four people and starting Sept. 29, each team member will complete at least two miles of walking, jogging or running per day. This will equate to 448 miles by the end of the program.
“This incentive program keeps people engaged for eight weeks and is a great motivational tool for people to get consistency in a cardiovascular exercise program,” said Pam Hall, wellness specialist at the KCKCC Wellness and Fitness Center. “The current exercise recommendation for cardiovascular exercise to improve health is to get moderate intensity cardiovascular exercise at least 30 minutes on most days if not every day of the week and this hits this mark. In the past many Walk Across Kansas participants have voiced their pride for completing the eight weeks, and the team component makes it fun and inspirational.”
Team members can do more or less each day, but remember that the team is counting on each participant to help them walk across Kansas in eight weeks. Individuals will turn in weekly mileage tracking sheets each week, so the team progress can be displayed. A maximum of 21 miles can be turned in per team member per week.
In addition, a team social has been organized in October. This is a walk-run at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 24, and participants must do their best to participate. The program ends Nov. 23, and T-shirts are available for purchase.
For more information about the Walk Across Kansas Program, contact Pam Hall at [email protected] or by calling 913-288-7368. A waiver must also be completed upon registration.
Kelly Rogge is the public information supervisor at Kansas City Kansas Community College.