The sixth year of the Walk with Me in the Berkshires
PITTSFIELD - The sixth year of the Walk with Me in the Berkshires program gets underway on April 8th, and this year will accommodate a 50% increase in the number of registration slots. Berkshire Medical Center, Fairview Hospital, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Fairview Commons, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Hillcrest Commons, iberkshires.com, Kimball Farms Nursing Care Center, Mt. Greylock Extended Care, North Adams Commons, the Pittsfield Council on Aging, Rotary of Pittsfield, Troy's Promotions and Williamstown Commons sponsor the Walk with Me program. The program encourages Berkshire County residents to increase their physical activity.In 2008, the program is being significantly expanded to allow for more walkers, with the first 1,500 registrants receiving a free pedometer and T-shirt to help motivate them to increase the number of steps that they take each day. In previous years, the program had 1,000 walkers from the community. In addition, Berkshire Health Systems is continuing its parallel walking program for BHS employees, with up to 1,500 people participating, for an overall program of 3,000 walkers.
Participants will form teams, consisting of from 2 to 20 walkers, and team captains will be able to register their entire team. A free pedometer will be provided to each participant, generously donated by Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts.
Registration will take place on Tuesday, April 8th, online only, to facilitate a fast and easy registration process. At 10 a.m. sharp on April 8th, the online registration will begin. Team captains can access the registration system through by clicking on the Walk with Me in the Berkshires logo on the iberkshires web site, www.iberkshires.com. The community program is limited to the first 1,500 registrations.
In order to complete the registration process, team captains should know the name, city or town, age range, t-shirt size and e-mail address for each of their team members. If a team member does not have an e-mail address, the team captain can use his or her e-mail as the contact information for that team member. Those without access to a computer can also participate in the program, as only one person per team will be registering the entire team online and reporting weekly steps.
Walk with Me in the Berkshires is not a fundraising effort. Running from April 21st through June 1st, the goal of the program is simply to get people to get more exercise. Prizes will be given to individuals and teams who increase their activity the most.
For more information, visit the Berkshire Health Systems web site at www.berkshirehealthsystems.org and click on the Walk with Me link on the home page.
