“We are tired of winter. We are ready for spring. We want to promote healthy living. We want people to incorporate walking into their daily schedule.” These are rapid sentences that come from John Brunow when asked about the March Into March promotion for the Greene County Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber’s Promotion Committee challenges Greene County residents to put on their shoes and compete. The 10,000 Steps Challenge is for teams of 4-8 people tracking their steps and trying to maintain the highest average number of steps each day. The registration fee for participation is $10 for each team member. The Greene County Community Center will have a map of Iowa which will show the progress of teams in miles crossing the state. The team with the highest totals will be able to designate a Greene County charitable organization to receive all the fees from the 10,000 Steps Challenge.
The 23 1/2 Hour Challenge is for individuals. It is targetted to promote people walking for a half hour each day. “The concept is to have people keep their sitting and sleeping limited to 23 1/2 hours each day,” Brunow noted. The registration fee for the 23 1/2 Hour Challenge is $5. The individual with the highest success in this challenge will be able to designate a Greene County charitable organization to receive the money raised through registration fees.
Each week participants will report their progress to the Greene County Community Center staff. An interesting aspect of the challenges is the ability to supplement steps or minutes of walking through visits to members of the Greene County Chamber of Commerce. Chamber members will have coupons good for numbers of steps or minutes of walking based on visits to their place of business.
Brunow is quick to admit that both challenges are functioning on the honor system. “This is a good will, feel good effort,” Brunow acknowledges. “There is fun to be had, new habits to be formed, and fresh air to be savored. I am getting ready for gardening and biking. I am going to do the 23 1/2 Hour Challenge with my wife Ces and our Labrador Java and wave in a neighborly fashion to everyone I see!”
