Waukee Walkers to Take Over Centennial Park Friday

Mayor Bill Peard and the Waukee City Council recently proclaimed Friday, Oct. 7, as “Waukee Walks Day.”

Wait … Waukee Walks. What’s that all about?

Waukee Walks is part of the Iowa’s Healthiest State initiative called Start Somewhere. It’s meant to educate people about health awareness and how they can live healthier lifestyles just by doing something as simple as walking.

The idea for Start Somewhere grew from some startling statistics. According to a Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, Iowa stands at No. 19 in the country when it comes to healthy states. State leaders want to change that.

“The goal is literally to start somewhere,” said Waukee native, Hy-Vee employee and member of the Waukee Walks planning committee Cindy Irvin. “We want people to get out there and get moving. Whether that means getting up to change the channel without using the remote or working in a garden … all of those things get us moving.”

At noon on Friday, people from all over the state are encouraged to participate in their own 1K walk whether it’s at home, work or even school. Waukee Walks will be held at . If you can’t make it, Irvin said taking a quick jaunt around your neighborhood, your office or school is a step in the right direction.

Wherever you walk, organizers are hoping they will break a world record by having 250,000 walking simultaneously at noon that day. They’re asking participants to pledge to do the walk by signing in at www.iowahealthieststate.com. So far, almost 180,000 people have committed to walking.

Also on the website, you can read about what the state is doing as a whole to make Iowa a healthier place to live.