That’s a wrap. The prizes have been awarded and the walking times have been tallied. We’ve come to the end of the 2022 NWTRPA Walking Challenge!
It’s been a different year for the NWTRPA Walking Challenge. You may recall that earlier this year the NWTRPA announced a temporary name change. You can read the full statement here about the NWTRPA Board of Directors decision to temporarily change the name of the annual winter walking challenge. It is our hope that in the coming year a new name will be found based on the feedback of Indigenous people, NWTRPA Members, Walking Challenge participants and NWT residents.
Do you have any feedback for us on the walking challenge in general or more specifically about the temporary name change or how to decolonize the challenge? Here is a link to a formal feedback form. You are also welcome to reach out to us via email at walktotuk@nwtrpa.org or by phone at 1-833-669-8381
Despite the many challenges as a result of the pandemic and temporary name change, the 2022 NWTRPA Walking Challenge continued to engage Northerners to get out and get active. Participants have been walking and tracking their physical activity for the past two months and conceptually walking the distance of the Big River from Zhatıé Kų́ę́/Fort Providence to Tuktuuyaqtuuq/Tuktoyaktuk. Not an easy task!
Altogether, the 207 participating teams logged a grand total of 373,024km. Calculated in hours of exercise, Walking Challenge participants collectively spent over 86,652 hours walking. Over 3,300 people from 24 NWT communities and beyond registered for the challenge.
What is next? We encourage all teams to organize team celebrations. Your celebration could be a group walk, a walk and talk, or an even where you share photos. There are so many ways to celebrate. Now is the perfect time to celebrate your hard work done to keep your community vibrant and healthy.
Yes, the Walking Challenge is over, but why stop now? Take advantage of the warmer weather and keep walking. Now that it’s March, things are only getting better! The longer days mean you can spend more time outside walking without a headlamp and the warmer weather means you can even shed a few of those layers! In a few months, it will be the beginning of summer and you won’t need that parka at all (hopefully).
You could also take advantage of the active areas in your community. Every community has spaces where you can be active, whether it’s the local recreation centre, walking paths, a park, or ski trails. Finding your active area will help you keep your active lifestyle going long after the Walking Challenge is over.
Finally, we’d like to send a big THANK You out to all team captains for their time, support, and promotion of the walking challenge. It goes without saying that all this success could not have been possible without the work of team captains.
Was your team captain awesome? We’d love to hear about them. Share your team captain comments with us on social media.