Twin Cities Fitness Challenge? Hit The Park!

Oh boy, there is a fitness challenge happening in the Twin Cities metro area right now. The Hennepin County Public Health Promotions is sponsoring its first annual Step To It Community Challenge. It’s a competition pitting five metro suburbs against each other to see whose residents can accumulate the most steps taken in a four-week period. Other forms of exercise, like jogging or biking, can also be converted to step equivalents to be counted in the final tally.

The reason for this is because of a troubling trend. From 1998 to 2006, Hennepin County records showed that the percentage of adult residents classified as overweight or obese had increased from 48 to 54. The HCPHP is hoping the competition will spur more residents to seek a more active lifestyle. The idea was to get people doing an activity nearly everyone can do: walking.

The challenge began last Friday in the cities of Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Golden Valley, Robbinsdale and St. Louis Park. The Step To It Challenge has been a big success at the neighborhood level in Minneapolis, where walking paths have been in place since 2004. There are still three weeks to go, so you can join in now and still get yourself moving. There are designated walking routes in the suburbs available, though it isn’t necessary as long as you’re just getting out and walking.

Here are some resources to help you embark on your walking quest.

Brooklyn Park – Parks & Recreation Website – Parks, Trails, and Amenities

Crystal – Parks & Recreation Website

Golden Valley – Parks & Recreation Website – Parks & Trails

Robbinsdale – Parks & Recreation Website

St. Louis Park – City Website – ParkFinder

You can submit the steps you logged here at this registration site. Happy walking, running, or biking!