South Peninsula Hospital announced Monday that registration is open for its Homer Steps Up walking challenge, an annual four-week event.
The goal of the event is to help motivate the community to engage in simple ways, like movement, to help improve overall health, and provide a fun, interactive community event to help bridge the long, cool transition from spring to summer, according to a Monday press release.
“Especially since the pandemic, bringing people together to connect with others is a priority for the SPH Health & Wellness program, and adding motivation to move makes it a double win!” event organizer Annie Garay, RN, Community Health & Wellness educator for South Peninsula Hospital, said in the release.
Participation in the event is free, with teams of five to 25 people competing by logging their steps using a wearable fitness tracker, smartphone or entering them manually.
The teams will be judged by the cumulative average of their members’ steps and will get “bragging rights” and their name on the traveling trophy, the release said. The top three winning teams will get the opportunity to designate cash donations to a local nonprofit of their choice.
Participants who reach a weekly step average of 35,000 steps, equally approximately 5,000 steps a day, will be entered for weekly prize drawings and end-of-challenge cash prizes. Winners will be drawn in three different step categories weekly, and they are eligible for $100, $200 and $300 cash prizes at the challenge’s end.
Registration is online at www.homerstepsup.com. Free pedometers, key chains, walking logs and stickers for those registering will be available at the Homer Chamber of Commerce starting this week.
A special “Walk this Way” event will kick off the challenge on Wednesday, May 3 from 5:15-5:45 p.m. at SPARC where Emilie Otis, SPH physical therapy assistant, will give a presentation on maintaining a safe and healthy walking structure, tips on injury preventing and proper stretching and techniques.
Complete information is at www.homerstepsup.com.
