Marked Walking Paths Unveiled April 4th
Maitland Walks—an effort to get more people moving through the use of marked walking paths—launches at 11:30 a.m. on April 4 in the Maitland Office Center Complex.
Supported by a $2,500 Health Innovation Grant from Healthy Central Florida (HCF), the walking event also will feature some friendly competition between businesses. Companies bringing out the most walkers for the event will win five Fitbit Flex wristbands that can be used to wirelessly track steps, distance, and calories burned.
Each of the first 150 walkers to register will receive a free t-shirt, pedometer, and a healthy lunch.
The Health Innovation Grant—awarded to the Healthy Maitland Team in collaboration with the Maitland Public Library– was one of 10 grants awarded by HCF for projects designed to inspire residents in Winter Park, Maitland and Eatonville to move more. (HCF is a community-based initiative founded by the Winter Park Health Foundation and Florida Hospital to help make Central Florida the healthiest community in the nation.)
HCF works with business and community leaders to design environments and implement strategies that make the healthy choice the easy choice everywhere you turn – at work, at school, at places of worship, and in the community.
According to Jill Hamilton Buss, HCF Executive Director, the use of marked walking paths is a low-tech way of inspiring walkers proven to be effective in other communities. A simple marker is used to mark a route every 1/10th of a mile.
Markers also have been added to Lake Lilly and Minnehaha Park in Maitland.
“With SunRail just barely a month away, we need to encourage people to be walking, biking and getting comfortable with the idea of walking that “last mile,” said Hamilton Buss. “Did you know? People who use transit–those who walk more for transportation–on average, weigh seven pounds less than those who don’t.”
“When people are out walking and biking, communities feel friendlier and are safer, commercial and residential property values rise, and it’s better for the environment,” she added.
For more information on the event and HCF, click here.
