MANISTIQUE - Spring means it's time for area residents to "get moving" once again. The Sault Tribe Strategic Alliance for Health (SAH) is teaming with Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) of Michigan to offer the incentive-driven "Let's Get Moving" competition to residents who get active.
The competition gives cash awards to communities where residents are the most physically active.
According to Kerry Ott, community coordinator of the Manistique SAH, this is the first year the competition has been offered in such an extensive capacity.
"'Let's Get Moving' is a physical activity program that the Sault Tribe has done with the casinos and with some worksites in the communities over the last few years," said Ott. "This year, it's taken on a new twist, because this year, the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has gotten
involved. It hasn't been as widespread and there hasn't been this kind of incentive for the communities before."
All four of the current SAH communities will be involved, including Manistique, St. Ignace, Munising and Sault Ste. Marie. Prizes for each community will be awarded based on the number of miles accumulated and logged for each resident.
These miles will be logged online throughout the competition, which runs from May 1 to June 30, according to Ott.
"This is a challenge to the communities. In each community, residents can register; they can register online and log in their miles," explained Ott. "The community that logs the most miles average, per team member, will get $2,000 from Blue Cross Blue Shield - second place gets $1,500, third place $1,000 and fourth place $500."
Ott noted the prizes will be awarded with one stipulation - that the money be spent on items that will benefit active community residents.
"The money is to be used in the community for something in the environment that will encourage or assist with people being physically active," explained Ott. "That could mean way-finding street signs, it could be a crosswalk, it could be benches, it could be anything they think of in the community that they could use the money for."
According to Ott, residents can register to log miles for their community any time before June 30 and accumulate miles in a number of ways.
"Miles can be earned in a lot of ways. There are straight miles by walking, biking, swimming - any of those things. We are also going to have a breakdown for participants on other activities that they can claim miles for, whether it's weightlifting, perhaps eating a nutritious breakfast, completing a walking audit," explained Ott.
"We are going to have a form that they can use to complete a walking audit of their neighborhood."
"They can say how walkable or bikable it is and they are going to be able to get miles for completing those types of things, as well," she added.
Once the competition begins, the participants will use the "Walking Works" Web site developed by BCBS to ensure their miles count. After the last miles are logged at midnight on June 30, SAH will begin calculating which community came out on top, said Ott.
"We will be able to compile and look at the averages to see who will win. So, sometime in the beginning of July we will be making an announcement, she explained. "It is really fun and the communities are very excited."
For more information on the "Let's Get Moving" competition, contact Kerry Ott at (906) 341-9561 or visit the BCBS "Walking Works" Web site at www.bcbs.com/innovations/walkingworks/.