Published: February 19, 2004
Business:
Healthcare
Healthy strides
Employers asked to help workers log their miles
By ELIZABETH
DAVIES‚ Rockford
Register Star
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The Rock River Valley is picking up a challenge from
Peoria to see which community can be the first to walk the
distance to the moon and back.
“When
Peoria challenges us, we can’t walk away from it,” said Ray Empereur, executive
director of the Rockford Health Council, which is taking the lead on the
challenge. “If they can do it, we can do it better.” Walkers from Peoria’s three-county area will be up against walkers
from Winnebago, Boone and Ogle counties. They have from April 1 through Sept.
30 to log a total of 477,400 miles — the roundtrip distance between Earth
and the moon. To make the challenge successful, thousands of volunteers will need to step up and log their daily activity.
Rockford Health Council will turn to the region’s em-ployers to help
make that happen. Companies are being asked to make the Moon Walk a part
of their wellness initiatives, as a way to create a healthier work force
and offset health insurance premium increases. Companies also could encourage participation in the event by buying
pedometers for their employees, local walk organizers said. The cost would
be between $3 and $20 per participant. Mary Anne Toppe, program director for the YMCA of Rock River Valley,
expects the moon walk challenge to generate corporate interest. “I’m hearing a need for that,” she said. “They want something new, interesting, different for employees.”
Last year, the YMCA’s Healthy Community Challenge filled that niche. Before that, it was the Corporate Cup.
AMCORE Bank, which has participated in both events in the past, would
participate in the Moon Walk if the entry fee is kept to $20 or less per
participant. “A challenge issued by another city is always motivating,” said AMCORE
spokeswoman Katherine Taylor. “I also think employees would be motivated
by trying to collectively reach the goal Peoria set of walking to the moon
and back.” Madeleine Sherod wants to promote the event among her co-workers at Valspar Corp. in Rockford.
“We have been looking for a way to get people here involved in healthy
lifestyles,” said Sherod, who said she does not exercise regularly. “This
would be a great way to jumpstart some people to begin exercising. I believe
it would help to improve the health of the community.” Mark Hunter, coordinator for the Winnebago County Health Department’s
black male health program, said the Moon Walk’s fun approach can make it
effective in getting local interest. “This is an awesome way to get the entire community involved in physical
activity,” he said. “If the marketing approach is done right, I think such
a strategy can have a significant, positive impact on the overall health
and health awareness of the community.” Peoria took on the challenge by itself last year, involving 2,600 walkers and 36 companies.
“This thing just took off like crazy,” said David Koehler, executive
director of the Peoria Area Labor Management Council, which launched the
Peoria Moon Walk. “We reached the moon by August and said, ‘Well, let’s turn
around and go back.’” The group fell short 14,193 miles of arriving back on Earth.
Peoria invited Rockford to be involved this year because of the relationship
between the Peoria labor council and Rockford’s Coronary Health Improvement
Project, better known as CHIP. The Peoria council adopted the CHIP healthy lifestyle initiative
as a strategy for improving residents’ health in that community. “Since we’re taking CHIP from Rockford, maybe we can give Rockford the Moon Walk,” Koehler said. “It just kind of fit.”
Armando Cardenas of Rockford said he’s willing to join the challenge.
He works out daily, but thinks the Moon Walk would help him get more exercise.
“The challenge would definitely be a plus to the total community,
because it will get more people to exercise that maybe normally don’t,” he
said. “If only one person picks up exercising as a result of the challenge,
then it will be well worth the effort and participation.” Rockford entrepreneur Kimberly Buchanan works out five times a week and would be part of the challenge.
“I like a little competition. I think it would be nice to show Peoria
we have what it takes,” said Buchanan, who owns an events planning business,
Xpressive Events. “I think it would also motivate me to get up and going.”
But Buchanan questions whether it would be effective in improving the community’s overall health.
“This particular challenge involves only one aspect of fitness — walking
— so it will probably need to expand to other areas of health and nutrition
to really have positive and measurable effects on the community as a whole.”
The health council’s Empereur sees the Moon Walk as a step toward making the community more health-conscious.
“Once you get their attention about being more fit, maybe we can get
their interest in nutrition or other various risk factors,” he said.
“This is a friendly competition that has captured the imagination
of many people.”
Contact: edavies@registerstartower.com; 815-987-1341
Published: February 19, 2004
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