Santa Feans, sign up now for May 31st WeWhoWalk!
Okay, Santa Fe, we’re all done with the Memorial Day barbeque and parties. Now, it’s time to get back on track and start taking your health seriously again!
Mark those calendars for 7:30 a.m. May 31st. All you’ll need is a chipper attitude, a smile and those walking shoes. The WeWhoWalk Tour is free for all participants. You’ll even get a free T-shirt and a breakfast for participating!
At 7:30 a.m. Thursday, May 31, registration will begin at the La Fonda Hotel for the WalkStyles' WeWhoWalk Tour, a scenic five-mile walk through the streets of Santa Fe. The walk follows, officially starting at 8:30 a.m. It’s a national tour that will hit 50 state capitals in 50 weeks in its nationwide campaign to promote health and wellness through walking. Santa Fe is the second stop along the way! As an added perk, the walk will take you passed Santa Fe's most historic landmarks.
“Since the tour is still new, we really want to create a buzz in Santa Fe and get residents excited about the walk!”, says Christina Shemo, WalkStyles’ Account Coordinator at HKA, Inc.
The walk is free for all residents. All interested walkers in the Santa Fe area are invited to join both the pre-walk festivities and the five-mile walk by registering online for free membership at www.walkstyles.com, by May 30. All participants will receive a free t-shirt and light breakfast at the La Fonda.
The tour founder, Sue Parks, knew that obesity issues affect both adults and children. Sue’s true motive for starting this initiative, though, was to see people get healthy before reaching adulthood by fighting childhood obesity. Sue found that nationally childhood obesity rates have doubled in the last 30 years, due to mostly to poor diet and inactivity. Statistics say that teen girls in the U.S are overweight because of less physical activity in teen years versus more as children. Studies show that brisk walking two to five hours a week could keep these girls from gaining 9 to 20 pounds as teens. Nine million plus U.S. youth aged 6 – 19 are overweight (study from UNM, 2005).
In her travels across the U.S., Sue found the most often asked question was “How do I find other people to walk with?” So, Park’s first step was to set up the WalkStyles free community website (www.walkstyles.com) to help people find others to share walking, hiking and running activities. The updated WalkStyles site, designed for individual walkers, hikers and joggers, can also assist in manage existing club activities, help to establish local walking communities and can serve as a tool to fight childhood obesity.
Parks’ company WalkStyles is now fully dedicated to helping people live a healthier, more balanced lifestyle that includes walking. To move this concept forward, Parks enlisted the help of a United Healthcare sponsorship. Additional sponsors are American Airlines, Citracal, Lindora Comprehensive Weight Control, Foot Solutions, Liberty Fitness and, newest sponsor, the nationally syndicated radio program, Satellite Sisters. The program will periodically feature Parks on their show during the tour.
Leading the event is Sue Parks WalkStyles’ CEO and Cathy Allen, Chairman, CEO of The Santa Fe Group and Santa Fe ambassador for the program. A few of the local Santa Fe walk VIPs will be members of the Museum Foundation of New Mexico leadership staff and Katherine Freeman, President and CEO of United Way of Santa Fe County.
To stay true to the cause even more, Sue has pledged to donate 10% of every item purchased by Santa Feans on www.walkstyles.com during the duration of her 50-state tour to a New Mexico charity battling childhood obesity.
It is hoped that the May 31 walk will help raise awareness in the community and across the nation. It is intended to connect current residents, newcomers and/or visitors to Santa Fe with other walkers in the area, and provide continued inspiration for us all to remain focused on the healthful benefits of walking.
Okay. So, what’s stopping you? Let’s see every Santa Fean out there participating in this one. Register at www.walkstyles.com now!
Other info on WalkStyles WeWhoWalk™ Tour (provided by WalkStyles):
As part of a national campaign to spread the message of wellness through walking – an ambitious, healthful endeavor covering all 50 states in just 50 weeks – the WeWhoWalk™ Tour, from WalkStyles, Inc., will make its second tour stop in Santa Fe on Thursday, May 31.
Santa Fe-area leaders will participate in pre-walk festivities at La Fonda Santa Fe Hotel at 7:30 a.m. The five-mile walk on a specially selected safe and scenic route that showcases Santa Fe, will begin at 8:30 a.m., and be led by Sue Parks, CEO of WalkStyles, Inc., originator of the tour, and WalkStyles Santa Fe ambassador Catherine A. Allen, Chairman and CEO of The Santa Fe Group.
May 31st – Santa Fe, NM event details follow:
- 7:30 AM Registration and light breakfast at the La Fonda Hotel in downtown Santa Fe. You will receive an event tee shirt, a light and healthy breakfast, and an explanation of the goals of the national tour.
- 8:00 AM National tour highlights and review of Santa Fe walk route.
- 8-8:30AM Group photo of participants (with Santa Fe civic and business leaders)
- 8:30 AM Begin the 5-mile (10,000 step) walk
- 10:30 AM Walk concludes (depending on walking speed, you may finish earlier)
If you have any questions, or require additional information on this event, please email Sue Larsen at
sue.larsen@walkstyles.com.
THIRD CITY IN TOUR: Richmond, VA on June 15th Additional details to be announced as time nears.
Shirl Steward can be reached at the New Mexican 995-3824 or by email at either ssteward@sfnewmexican.com or at santafeshirl@gmail.com. Besides being a Web Producer for the New Mexican, she is writer, editor, poet, journalist, web designer and photographer. A few samples of her photography work can be viewed at www.whitewolfmediagroup.com and more spiritual oriented writings can be found at www.healingwaterspress.com. Sites have been recently down due to host problems and are currently being updated so stay tuned!
