Brooks Students to Celebrate Walking Challenge with Medford Marathoner Friday

All fourth and fifth grade classes at the Brooks Elementary School have taken their first big steps to improve their fitness by participating in the month-long Brooks Walking Challenge. They will celebrate their results this Friday morning, May 25th, at the start of the school day.

Lindsay Willard, a Medford resident who was the fifth American woman to cross the finish line at this year’s Boston Maraton and took 17th place among women overall, will join the students to celebrate their achievements. Willard, age 33, crossed the finish line with a time of 2 hours, 55 minutes and 53 seconds, according to results from the Marathon’s website. The time was the second-fastest among Massachusetts women.

All fourth and fifth grade classes received free pedometers, provided by Medford Health Matters and Safe Routes to Schools, to keep track of their steps for a month.

The Brooks Walking Challenge will be rolled out to all Medford schools this coming fall.

The Brooks Walking Challenge is a project of Medford Walk-Ride Days, which celebrates and promotes the use of sustainable and active transportation. This event was organized by the City of Medford, Safe Routes to School, and Green Medford.

In addition to the Brooks School, fifteen retail businesses in Medford Square and elsewhere are participating in Walk-Ride Days, which occur on the last Friday of each month. All customers who go car-free to any of these retailers on May 25th will receive a special incentive.

Also, residents who commute from Medford car-free this Friday can be entered into a monthly raffle by checking in at http://greenstreets.mapc.org.

Visit http://gogreenstreets.org/retailers/medford to find all the participating Medford businesses and other partners in Walk/Ride Days.

Walk/Ride Days is looking for new retailers to join the project. To participate, a business chooses an incentive that will help bring more customers to the business without driving. Then, on the last Friday of each month, the businesses reward the people who visited because of the program.

Walk/Ride Days is a project of the Green Streets Initiative, an international grassroots organization based in Cambridge, MA, that celebrates and promotes the use of sustainable and active transportation. Green Streets’ mission is to create safer, healthier, and quieter streets and more vibrant communities. More information at: http://www.gogreenstreets.org/.

Green Medford is coordinating participation in Walk/Ride Days and supporting partners with outreach. To sign up or ask questions, call Susan at 781-526-4714, or email greenmedford[at]gmail.com. Green Medford seeks to educate the Medford community to understand our environmental impact, and to empower members of our community to make more sustainable energy choices related to homes and businesses, transportation, and food. More information at: www.greenmedford.org and at our Facebook page (search for Green Medford).

– Submitted by Susan Altman, Green Medford