Winter Walkoff 2012
Winter can be a tough time for staying motivated to get outside and keep active. What better month, then, to encourage walking, whether indoors or out?
In February, we’re celebrating walking—the most benign and cheapest form of transportation. The Winter Walkoff, primarily a social media campaign, encourages people to walk at least once per day during the month of February and post about it on Twitter using the hashtag #winterwalkoff. The Winter Walkoff also helps promote activities in February that encourage people to get outside & keep moving during the winter months.
Just about everyone who can walk does walk somewhere everyday—but in February we want to hear about it. Tell us where you walk—to the bus? To lunch? Around the neighborhood? To school?
STATS
According to the American Community Survey, more people walk to work in the Twin Cities than bicycle (5-6% walk in Minneapolis and Saint Paul versus 2-4% who bicycle). Bike Walk Twin Cities’ monthly counts show that most people (74%) keep walking all year round.
BENEFITS OF WALKING
The benefits of regular walking are tremendous. According to the Mayo Clinic, walking can help lower cholesterol and blood pressure and help manage weight and diabetes. Walking also improves your mood. When we choose to walk or use a wheelchair to get around we also ease traffic congestion, conserve energy, preserve the environment and contribute to the quality of life in our community. In a growing number of communities walkability is becoming an indicator of livability.
EVENTS—ONE INDOORS, ONE OUT
Looking ahead to February, here are two events to keep in mind—one indoors and one outdoors. There are many other events in February for your #winterwalkoff. Follow the hashtag to keep in touch.
- Walk indoors: On Saturday, February 4, from 11am-4pm, you can Go Red at the Mall of America with the American Heart Association. Walk around the MOA to catch a fashion show, concert, casting call, and other events.
- Walk outdoors: On Saturday, February 11, from noon- 2pm, get outside on the Midtown Greenway for the first ever Winter Wonder Walk/Ride, featuring bicycling and walking activities. Registration begins at 11:30 at the Freewheel Midtown Bike Center.
WALKING ORGANIZATIONS
America Walks is a national resource which fosters walkable communities by engaging, educating, and connecting walking advocates.
Every Body Walk! is an online educational campaign aimed at getting Americans up and moving. Through the help of our partners, we are working to spread the message that walking 30 minutes a day, five days a week really can improve your overall health and prevent disease.
LOCAL BLOGS THAT FEATURE WALKING
Twin Cities Sidewalks - “The view from the sidewalks of Minneapolis and Saint Paul”
Minneapolis 81 - ”Urban hiking is one of my favorite past-times . . . ”
Getting Around Minneapolis - The author looks with suspicion upon transportation schemes promoted as “balanced,” reasoning that our existing transportation system is so unbalanced that it can only become balanced by prioritizing transit, biking and walking at the expense of automobiles for many years in the future.
And one or two from out of state
Berkeley Afoot - I like to walk. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good auto road trip. I have spent summer vacations touring by bike. But walking has much to offer that other means of transportation don’t provide.
Pedestrian City - Pedestrian City encourages people to create memory maps as a way to make connections between the places they go and interactions they experience in a city.
TRIP TRACKERS
Metro Transit Trip Tracker - Registration required. If you’ve signed up for the Commuter Challenge in past years, you may already be set to go.
Everybody Walks app
Google Map pedometer
