100 Mile Challenge

2017 NACo Achievement Award Winner

Montgomery County, Md., MD

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About the Program

Category: Parks and Recreation (Best in Category)

Year: 2017

Montgomery County Recreation developed the Wellness, Fitness, and Performance (WFP) Institute to serve as a framework for its health and wellness initiatives. The mission of the wellness component is to increase the physical activity and healthy eating practices of county residents. To meet this mission Montgomery County Recreation developed an ongoing initiative called Move More Montgomery (MMM) to encourage residents to get up and get moving to enhance their health and wellness through fun activities, classes and programs. The 100 Mile Challenge was the first program of the MMM initiative. Residents were challenged to walk, jog, or run 100 miles in 100 days. Participants could also do 20 minutes of continuous physical activity which would count that as one mile, thereby opening up the Challenge to people who want to increase their physical activity by doing other types of exercise. The program started in January 2016 to take advantage of New Year’s resolutions many people make to exercise more, and to encourage physical activity throughout the winter months. Actual dates of the challenge were Jan. 21 through April 29. Three hundred ninety individuals registered for the challenge, almost doubling our goal of 200. The challenge started with a kickoff event with motivational speakers, healthy tasting and other wellness activities. It ended with a county wide Move More Montgomery Festival on April 30 .