Our office is buzzing with people who are pulling their Walk Kansas teams together and that is great news. This signature program of K-State Research and Extension is set to begin March 15 and runs through May 9. Registration for this program that emphasizes healthy living can be completed on-line. For a $10 registration fee, participants will receive timely newsletters and other program materials, incentives and a celebration luncheon set for Tuesday, May 12, in Great Bend. An optional T-shirt may be ordered for an additional charge.

With the Walk Kansas program kicking off in a couple of weeks, it is the perfect time to remind you to find a physical activity you enjoy and then make time in your schedule to do it! For me, that means getting back on the bike. Even a few days off from the routine of bike commuting to and from work makes me feel sluggish. The 48 minutes of riding to and from my office in the morning at lunch time and at the end of the day is broken into 12-minute increments so that it hardly feels like exercise but it is. 

So now is the time to visit with friends, family or co-workers and form your team of six. Select a fun name that describes your team and when March 15 rolls around start logging minutes exercised. Each team will choose a challenge to work toward depending on the goals of the team. Besides reporting minutes exercised each week, participants have an opportunity to log the number of cups of fruits and vegetables they eat each week.  

People are always anxious to learn what colors the T-shirts are. This years’ T-shirt colors are a pretty sea green and charcoal gray. Both are attractive with the Walk Kansas logo complete with sunflower and purple lettering. 

A Walk Kansas Celebration complete with a free lunch for Walk Kansas team members is set for Tuesday, May 12, at the Great Bend Activity Center. I’ll have more information about this fun and educational event as the date draws near.

You can go to www.walkkansasonline.org and follow the steps to sign up for Walk Kansas. Call or stop by our office if you have questions. So now, let’s hope for some warmer weather so we can get back into the swing of things with Walk Kansas!

Donna Krug is the Family & Consumer Science Agent with K-State Research and Extension – Cottonwood District. Contact her at 620-793-1910 or dkrug@ksu.edu.