Move this way
The Move this Way to Beijing program has people taking enough steps to get to China in time for the Olympics
You don't have to be an Olympic athlete to make your way to Beijing this summer - in fact, you don't even have to leave the city.
All you need to be is active, says Kathryn Baird, a recreation officer with the City of Fredericton.
Everyone is invited to be part of Move this Way to Beijing, a free initiative that encourages people to take part in 30 minutes or more of continuous activity every day.
The goal is for teams to cover the distance from Fredericton to Beijing, which is 10,457 kilometres or 13,071,250 steps.
"It's based on one we did four years ago," says Baird. "We did one called Move this Way to Athens, which was quite successful."
On the trip to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, there were two teams, with the boys taking on the girls. This year, there are teams from a variety of businesses and organizations, as well as a couple of public teams, making the trek.
"We need to have a lot of people on the teams because it's a long distance and we haven't got very long to get there," notes Baird.
"We want to get there before the Olympics start, which is Aug. 8."
The program kicked off on July 1, giving teams just over a month to make the trip. So far, 17 teams have signed up, including teams from the University of New Brunswick, St. Thomas University, River Valley Health, YMCA, Centre communautaire Sainte-Anne, the Chinese Cultural Association, The New Brunswick Filipino Society and more.
Guylaine Perron is a member of the Centre communautaire Sainte-Anne team.
The centre, she says, is one of the partners in the Network for Healthy Living, which is behind Move this Way to Beijing.
The network, which is made up of representatives from several organizations and institutions in the greater Fredericton area, was formed in 2007 to promote healthy living, primarily through increased physical activity and good eating habits.
"We're trying to find a way to get people active and in better shape," says Perron, so when Baird came up with the idea of being active on the road to the 2008 Olympics, the centre wanted to be part of it.
"Right now we have 45 (team members), but unfortunately some of them still haven't registered," she says. "Last time I checked, we were close to 30 registered online."
Getting active is an individual thing for the centre's team members, but Perron sends out e-mails from time to time to encourage them and tell them to keep up the good work.
That's also a opportunity for her to remind them to keep registering anything they do.
"They can't forget to register their steps if we want to win," she says.
When you go on the website, it gives some great ideas of activities you can do, she notes, including a few people might not think to include, such as mowing the lawn.
"Me, personally, I've been mowing my lawn, walking, jogging and dancing," says Perron. "Even here at the centre, we do a lot of walking."
She encourages other people to sign up to be part of this program, as the competition is friendly and fun.
"It motivates you to want to get there first."
At least that has been the case with Perron.
"I'm competitive," she says, laughing.
Individuals can sign up for the public teams by going to www.movethisway.ca, says Baird, but if they want to be on an organization or business team, they will have to call her at 460-2235 to get the proper codes.
The public teams are called We're Going to Make It and Movers and Shakers, she says.
"They're actually falling a little behind right now because they haven't got a lot of players."
The STU team is in the lead and they are already a quarter of the way to Beijing, though Baird is quick to point out that this isn't a race. It's just a fun way to get people moving.
"Physical activity is important to one's quality of life and one's overall health," she says. "Little challenges like this can motivate people and that's what we're trying to do."
The idea is that once you do it, you'll think "this is fun" and want to keep on doing it, she says.
The neat thing about Move this Way to Beijing is that anybody can take part - families, singles, adults or kids.
"You need to have access to a computer, but Mom and Dad can enter things for the kids or the kids can enter stuff for Mom and Dad, depending on skill level," says Baird.
Plus on the website, you can see a map that shows the team's icon racing across the kilometres.
"That is updated every time somebody puts in their steps and (changed for) every 100 kilometres," she says. "So it's sort of a real-time view on things."
Something else that is new about this trip to the Olympics is that you don't have to measure steps to take part.
"Before, the program was based on pedometres, but this isn't based on pedometres at all. If you have one, more power to you, go ahead," she says.
But if you don't, or want to log activities such as swimming or canoeing, you can.
"When you register, it takes you to your own little page where you enter your activity," says Baird.
You can enter your steps or choose an activity and enter the time you spent doing it. The calculator will then give you an equivalent number of steps which will be added to your total.
"It's a huge list, but if it's not there, find something that is relatively close," says Baird, such as canoeing for kayaking.
Move this Way to Beijing is a bilingual program. To get involved, go to www.movethisway.ca and sign up or, for more information, call Baird at 460-2235.
She encourages everyone to get involved, no matter their level of activity, as every step helps on the long road to Beijing.
"We need lots of people on the public teams or they're not going to make it," she says. "I'd really like to see those fill up."
Once you sign up, if you have regular activities, you can even backtrack to when the event began on July 1 and add those steps in, says Baird.
"The big thing is, we want everybody to take part."
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