AgriLife, Chamber Kick Off Worksite Wellness, Team and Individual Challenge

Shelby County Fit – AgriLife Extension and Chamber of Commerce Health and Fitness Committee to Kick Off Worksite Wellness and Team and Individual Challenge

September 5, 2017 - On Tuesday, September 5th, The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Shelby County office and Shelby County Chamber of Commerce Health and Fitness Committee will kick-off registration for individual and team worksite wellness challenge for the county. The eight-week challenge itself begins on Monday, September 25th.

Entering this challenge is easy – just dust off those walking shoes and join in as we “Walk Across Texas” by recruiting a team of up to eight people or sign up as a solo walker and compete with other teams and individuals to see who can walk the most miles over eight weeks from September 25 – November 17, 2017. The goal is to walk at least 900 miles either as a team or individual (the distance from Center to El Paso) in eight weeks. You can walk around the park, your neighborhood, at the gym, wherever your feet will take you to meet the goal. That’s only a little over 16 miles per week or 2.5 miles per day per eight-member team!

Entry fee is a minimum of five cans or other non-perishable food per person to be given to the Shelby County Outreach Ministries food pantry. The event is open to the public, both adult and youth.

To register your team or as an individual walker stop by the Extension office, 266 Nacogdoches Street, Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. to pick-up your enrollment packet or contact us to have the packet emailed. Deadline to register is Friday, September 22nd. So, form a team of 8, choose your team captain, register your team beginning September 5th, and let’s walk on, Shelby County!

Participants will be able to check how their team is doing compared to other teams on the Walk Across Texas website. To be eligible for prizes, participants must submit verification of physical activity or miles walked on a weekly basis through use of a tracking device or smart phone activity app. Points can be earned by each participant for the following: submitting weekly physical activity data, completing the challenge (all 8-weeks), and post survey. The points can then be redeemed after the challenge for healthy cooking and fitness incentive items.

Start logging your miles beginning Monday, September 25th. The Don’t Give Up Now event is scheduled on Saturday, October 7th in conjunction with the East Texas Poultry Festival CrossFit 5K Chicken Fun Run/Walk. We will wrap up the 8-week program on Friday, November 17th. All winners will be announced on December 1, 2017. Prizes will be given for the top team walkers, top individual walker, and most unusual team name.

This year we will be featuring a Yoga for Lunch fitness component, in addition to a Taste the Rainbow vegetable and fruit food tasting each Tuesday and Thursday from 12:15 – 12:45 pm at the Extension gym building during the 8-week challenge.

Shelby County Fit Walk Across Texas, sponsored by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Shelby County Chamber of Commerce is a fun, flexible, and FREE way to encourage people to exercise. For more information, call Jheri-Lynn McSwain, CEA-FCH at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in Shelby County at 936-598-7744 or email at jlmcswain@ag.tamu.edu.

Submitted by Jheri-Lynn McSwain