Community walking challenges start up

Local walking challenges are opening across the country this week, with organizers betting that step counts and short daily goals still draw people in. (homerstepsup.com; pphd.ne.gov) In Homer, Alaska, registration opened April 15 for the 10th annual Homer Steps Up challenge, which runs May 4 through May 31 and is free for people on the Southern Kenai Peninsula. Participants can log walks with a smartphone, wearable tracker, pedometer, or manual entry. (homerstepsup.com; homeralaska.org) Homer organizers changed the format this year by removing team-size caps and letting participants set their own daily walking goals. The event’s virtual map tracks progress on a route from the end of the Homer Spit to Mirror Lake in Anchorage. (homeralaska.org) The prizes are built to keep people logging steps for four weeks. Ten walkers who average at least 7,500 daily steps each week will get $50 in Homer Bucks, and the top three teams by average daily steps will direct $100 to $500 to a Homer organization of their choice. (homeralaska.org) South Peninsula Hospital says the program is meant to be both a health campaign and a community event, with support from its foundation and local partners including the City of Homer, South Peninsula Behavioral Health, SPARC, and SVT Health and Wellness. The hospital says the challenge returns every May and is open across the southern Kenai Peninsula. (sphosp.org) The workplace version is also back in western Nebraska. Panhandle Public Health District is asking businesses in 10 counties to join National Walk at Lunch Day on Wednesday, April 29, by having employees take a short walk during lunch and post a photo from the event. (pphd.ne.gov) That employer push is designed to lead into a longer program. The district’s May 1 to May 31 challenge, called “Take the Next Best Step,” asks participants to track walking and related changes in mood, stress, and sleep, with a prize drawing for people who complete the monthly tracker. (pphd.ne.gov; myemail.constantcontact.com) The appeal is that these programs ask for almost no equipment and little setup beyond a phone, pedometer, or lunch break. In Homer, last year’s participants logged enough walking to equal three trips around the Earth, according to the challenge website. (homerstepsup.com) More communities are likely to keep using that formula through spring: free signups, simple tracking, small prizes, and a fixed start date. The next deadlines are close — April 29 for Walk at Lunch Day events and May 4 for Homer’s monthlong challenge. (pphd.ne.gov; homeralaska.org)