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Offered by Penn State Extension April 5 to May 24, “Everybody Walk Across Pennsylvania” is a free virtual walking program designed to help participants meet their health goals this spring.
The eight-week, semi-structured program encourages participants to increase their physical activity and develop healthy eating habits.
Participants can join individually or form teams of five with family, friends, coworkers, or even the family dog.
Because it is a virtual program, locations and times of walking can be customized, and the program also includes an exercise conversion chart to convert many activities into reportable miles.
Extension educators Stacy Reed and Laurie Welch are co-chairs for the program. Last fall, there were 471 registered participants who walked approximately 62,000 miles in all — which works out to crossing the state of Pennsylvania about 220 times, Reed said.
Reed and Welch noted that during the COVID-19 pandemic, staying mentally and physically well is more important than ever.
They also stressed the importance of adhering to CDC, federal, state, and local guidelines and mandates for health and safety during the pandemic. If some teammates are not part of the same household, consider a phone call to walk and talk.
Each team member will try to walk an average of 10 miles per week. Team captains will be asked to report the total number of miles walked, and all participants will receive weekly emails with motivators to keep walking and strategies for healthy eating.
More information can be found at extension.psu.edu/everybody-walk-across-pa. The registration deadline is March 29.