A record number of people completed Hillsborough County’s Hiking Spree this year, more than 1,100. To maintain this momentum, the County’s Parks and Recreation Department has created a new program to give people an incentive to keep moving.
Move! Hillsborough officially launched on April 1 as an initiative to get people motivated to join a Zumba class, skip for a mile, go canoeing or play basketball, whatever makes them happiest, said Dana McDonald, Senior Program Coordinator for Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation.
“One of our team members took pieces of different programs and came up with this idea to reward people for miles, but it is really for any sort of activity,” McDonald said. The county’s Move! Hillsborough website has a tracking sheet for participants to use and even a way to convert, say, basketball, into miles earned. “If it’s not on the list, you can come up with your own conversion,” she said.
The program runs through July 31 and also allows participants to use inside activities toward their goal of 100, 300, or 500 miles. Once someone reaches their goal, they fill out a completion form to be eligible for a prize. For those who complete 500 miles, they are eligible for three prizes.
“It’s a lot of miles, but when you think about it, if you do an hour of exercise a day, you get two or three miles a day,” McDonald said. “We wanted to challenge people.” Already, more than 200 people have signed up for the new program.
