Keeping Pace with the Torch
"Keeping Pace with the Torch"
All residents of Grey Bruce are invited to accept the challenge to "Keep Pace with the Torch" by walking a portion of the Olympic Torch Relay route between October 30, 2009 and February 12, 2010. While the entire torch route covers a distance of 45,000 km participants are asked to form teams of five and cover 1/10 of the distance by the time the torch travels throughout Canada and arrives back in Vancouver for the start of the Olympics.
The program will launch on October 30, 2009. Individuals are encouraged to form teams of a minimum of 5 people to carry the torch and complete the journey. Each team will complete 4500 km of the torch relay in the 106 days the torch will travel across the country. This is the equivalent of each team covering 42.5 km per day or approximately 8.5 km per person for a five person team. Remember – these totals include all steps taken during the day and also include step equivalents earned by participating in alternative activities during the challenge such as swimming, dancing or raking leaves.
Each team should designate a team leader who will keep track of the team's progress. This data will be entered weekly on the Keeping Pace website. All you need to participate is a team captain, four other team members, a team name and lots of energy.
How To Get Started
All residents of Grey Bruce are invited to accept the challenge to "Keep Pace with the Torch" by walking a portion of the Olympic Torch Relay route between October 30, 2009 and February 12, 2010. While the entire torch route covers a distance of 45,000 km participants are asked to form teams of five and cover 1/10 of the distance by the time the torch travels throughout Canada and arrives back in Vancouver for the start of the Olympics.
The program will launch on October 30, 2009. Individuals are encouraged to form teams of a minimum of 5 people to carry the torch and complete the journey. Each team will complete 4500 km of the torch relay in the 106 days the torch will travel across the country. This is the equivalent of each team covering 42.5 km per day or approximately 8.5 km per person for a five person team. Remember – these totals include all steps taken during the day and also include step equivalents earned by participating in alternative activities during the challenge such as swimming, dancing or raking leaves.
Each team should designate a team leader who will keep track of the team's progress. This data will be entered weekly on the Keeping Pace website. All you need to participate is a team captain, four other team members, a team name and lots of energy.
How To Get Started
- Form teams of five people. Each team should select a captain and a team name
- Register your team, worksite, school, by completing the registrationform at http://www.keepingpace.ca/
- Register by online by October 23rd, 2009 (Please note that this site will not be fully functional until mid October).
How the Program Works
- Each team captain will need to log on to the Keeping Pace website weekly to ensure their team totals is entered into the system. For this challenge, distance will be recorded in kilometres but steps taken can be converted using the conversion chart located on the website. All participants can follow the cumulative progress of all teams within Grey Bruce by clicking on the Olympic Torch Route map
- Schools and worksites may have many teams competing and are encouraged to develop incentives for their location e.g. team spirit, most improved pacer, etc.
- The website has a certificate that can be printed for each team member upon completion of the Keeping Pace challenge.
More Information
·Information about pedometers is available on the website. Pedometers can be used to track your daily steps and can help you reach your goal.
- You can also participate without a pedometer. Measure your daily walking route or design a one kilometre loop. Record your distance and send the totals in to your team captain.
- School and worksites are encouraged to design routes indicating the number of kilometres and post them on the bulletin board for all participants to use. Many local community trails have the distance in kilometres posted.
When starting a walking program it is important to start slowly and gradually increase your number of steps per day over a number of weeks. To be active, the eventual goal is 10,000 steps per day (~8km) for healthy adults and 13,000- 16,000 for children.
For more information about the program please contact Jason Weppler, Health Promoter at the Grey Bruce Health Unit, at 519-376-9420