At recreation centres across Saanich, people are participating in a national challenge.
ParticipACTION is a Canadian non-profit aimed at promoting healthy living and physical fitness and this year they’re launching a national health initiative.
“This year ParticipACTION is putting out there Community Better Challenge, encouraging all Canadians to be active, log their minutes and there’s a little bit of a competition behind it,” says Saanich Parks, Recreation and Community Services community programmer Mena Westhaver.
That competitive element is to find the most active community in Canada.
“Of course municipalities, districts and cities across the country are all competing and Saanich is proving that’s what we are going to do, proving that we’re the most active community in the country,” says Westhaver.
The District of Saanich is jumping headlong into the challenge and encouraging residents to track their daily physical activity.
“It can be your running, your walking, it could be swimming behind me in the pool, it could be playing with your kids out in the garden,” says Westhaver.
“Log anything that is active, get your heart rate up and put in your minutes.”
Those wanting to participate simply sign up online, with their postal code linking them to the correct community.
“You can create an account and use one of the social accounts that you already use to log in,” says Saanich Parks, Recreation and Community Services marketing & communications specialist Peter Hunsinger.
“You can even sync your fitness tracker to it too so it logs automatically and you can use the app or the website.”
It’s all about getting everyone in the community out and active.
“We want you just to get out there, that’s the biggest thing [is] we’re encouraging physical activity,” says Westhaver.
“It’s better for your health, it’s better for our community.”
The Community Better Challenge runs until June 30. To register visit the Saanich Parks, Recreation and Community Services website.
Cole Sorenson
