By KEN CARPENTER
Great Bend Post
Participants in this year's Barton County Walk Kansas program were treated to a Pep Rally at Jack Kilby Square on Wednesday. To celebrate their success so far, they received a box lunch and took part in a drawing for door prizes.
The Walk Kansas program is sponsored by the Cottonwood District of the K-State Research and Extension Office.
Donna Krug, District Director, said that people aren't actually walking across the state of Kansas. She says they are doing a number of activities that count toward a specific goal.
"It's really not just walking," Krug explained. "It's whatever they enjoy doing. It could include gardening or bike riding or swimming. Anytime they do 15 minutes of exercise, that is logged into their weekly log, and that is considered to be one mile."
The program began on March 28th and runs for eight weeks. If they stick with the plan, a team of six participants will collectively be able to log 423 miles, the distance across Kansas. Each participant is expected to exercise 30 minutes a day, five days a week.
In the past, "Walk Kansas" has been a team event. But Krug says this year the program has also been open to individuals.