Lane Cove community to Walk around the World

The community of Lane Cove in Sydney is to launch an initiative to encourage local residents to get active.
The Walk around the World challenge is inviting participants to choose a goal which is equivalent to walking a certain distance in Australia (such as Sydney to Darwin).
Upon registering, participants are given a pedometer to track the number of steps they take each day, each week and finally for the whole month. Participants will then able to monitor whether or not they reach their goal.
Set to be launched on Saturday 3rd March, the initiative has been developed in response to the general need for people to incorporate exercise into their everyday lifestyle.
The concept of the Lane Cove Challenge developed from an idea by Professor Martin Silink, President of the Rotary Club of Lane Cove. As one of Australia's leading doctors working in the field of Paediatric Endocrinology, Professor Silink had been acutely aware of Federal Department of Health and Ageing data that shows 72% of Australians aged fifteen years and over were classified as sedentary or having low exercise levels.
Professor Silink wanted to undertake a community project that would help people increase their daily level of exercise, raise awareness of the importance of physical activity and inform them of the positive repercussions exercise has on the health and lives of individuals.
Professor Silink explains "the Lane Cove challenge successfully promoted fitness and encouraged the Lane Cove community to make a conscious decision to improve their health by increasing their level and/or amount of exercise they participated in during the month of March. Iï¾m overwhelmed by the communityï¾s positive reaction, and I hope that people maintain this lifestyle change."
The Lane Cove Challenge is being brought to life by the BlueFit Foundation, Rotary Club of Lane Cove, the Australian Diabetes Council and the Lane Cove Council. BlueFit Health Club provided a free health screening to all individuals that participated. At the end of the challenge participants have also been urged to celebrate their final day by participating in the BlueFit Charity Swimathon.
Endorsed by Better Homes and Gardens host and Dancing with the Stars winner Rob Palmer, the collaboration between the groups has been extremely successful.
The initiative will continue through March.

http://www.walkaroundtheworld.org.au