Athens, Ga. (January 15, 2008) - Your new year’s challenge is simple: Spend eight weeks “walking” Georgia.

Through a new program called Walk Georgia, the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension invites you to spend eight weeks increasing your physical activity level in a fun, community-oriented way. The goal is to be active, whether you’re walking, biking or dancing.

Plus, with Walk Georgia starting the first week of March, you have time to get ready.

“We hope that participants will start being active if they aren’t already and continue to do some kind of physical activity when the eight-week period ends,” said Maria Bowie, a marketing specialist with UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “We hope the program will be a lifestyle change that will improve participant’s quality of life.”

Walk Georgia is an online program where you can log your real time exercise virtually. Your aerobics class during your lunch break counts, and so does a walk with your dog at home or pick-up game of basketball at the rec department. Using a dropdown menu, you can record these activities. The time is then translated into miles, and the Web site gives you the go-ahead to “move” around the state.

“Through an online map, you can electronically chart a course as you ‘walk’ Georgia,” Bowie said. “Whether you visit the coast or hike the mountains, as you move you will read about the counties you visit and learn new ways to improve your health.”

Walk Georgia is a statewide program, so a woman in Thomasville could challenge her cousin in Canton and her brother in Savannah to a Walk Georgia contest. Or a family spread across the state could walk as a four-person team.

“We wanted to do a statewide program that all of Georgia’s counties could be involved in at the same time,” Bowie said.

Registration for Walk Georgia is free and opens Feb. 18. Visit www.walkgeorgia.org to register yourself or your four-person team. While an email address is required to register, individuals without one can join as part of a team as long as the team captain has an email address.

In the first week of March, participants can start logging their physical activity at www.walkgeorgia.org. The program concludes April 30.

This article was posted on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 at 10:32 am and is filed under News.