Oskaloosa Has Amazing Turnout for “Start Somewhere” Walk
Oskaloosa residents finished two laps around the square for the "Start Somewhere" walk on Friday afternoon
Oskaloosa, Iowa – One of several “Start Somewhere” walks was held Friday on the Oskaloosa square. Brianne Fitzgerald, Executive Director for the Mahaska County United Way, was waiting to hear back from all the locations in Oskaloosa that were locations for the “Start Somewhere” walk. The initiative was started by Governor Branstad earlier this year.
The square in downtown Oskaloosa, the YMCA, William Penn University, Mahaska Health Partnership, and more than 15 other locations including some in Fremont and Eddyville all participated.
The Oskaloosa community had 3,314 people participate in the event. “That is an amazing number of people!” Fitzgerald said of the turnout on Friday. By signing up for the walk, everyone was also expressing their desire to see Oskaloosa become a blue zone
One Kilometer or two full laps around the square got you enough distance to qualify for the walk.
Doug Reichardt, chair of the Start Somewhere Walks said walk organizers are trying to best a walk world record now claimed by the nation of Canada. “It’s a bold goal to become number one in well-being,” Reichardt says. “It’s also bold to challenge an entire country with our Start Somewhere Walks. But if anyone can compete – whether it’s for our business environment or in our own personal health and well-being, Iowans can compete with anyone.”
Reichardt understands that by itself, a one-kilometer walk won’t change the health of the state. “But it’s an opportunity for all Iowans to come together and ‘start somewhere’ toward this ambitious goal.”
On Aug. 10, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad announced a plan to make Iowa the Healthiest State by the year 2016 as measured by the Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index®. The Healthiest State Initiative is a privately- led, publicly endorsed effort that will engage citizens throughout the state to improve their overall health and well-being. According to the 2010 Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index®, Iowa currently ranks as the 19th healthiest state in the nation. Public effort that will engage Iowans and their communities throughout the state. It will involve individuals, families, businesses, faith-based organizations, not-for-profits and the public sector in a broad-based community-focused effort. For more information, visit www.iowahealthieststate.com.
More than 291,000 Iowans voted with their feet in favor of the new Healthiest State Initiative by participating in Start Somewhere Walks held across Iowa on Friday, according to estimates by walk organizers.
“In more than 2,300 group walks and thousands of individual walks, Iowans said ‘yes’ to starting our journey to becoming the healthiest state in the nation,” said Governor Terry Branstad, who announced the Healthiest State Initiative in August. “It was a remarkable display of energy as Iowans came together to ‘start somewhere’ in reaching this ambitious goal.”
Walk organizers had set a goal of 250,000 Start Somewhere Walk participants to best a walk world record currently claimed by Canada, which had 231,635 walk participants in 2007. Iowans beat that total even though it has less than one-tenth of the population of Canada.
“We knew it was a bold goal to set a target of a quarter-million Iowans participating in Start Somewhere Walks,” said Doug Reichardt, co-chair of the Healthiest State Initiative advisory committee. “Of course, it’s also a bold goal to become number one in well-being, so we had to – and will have to – think big for the Healthiest State Initiative.”
