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Walking the length of Mackenzie River
Five Inuvik teams registered with NWT Parks and Recreation for 1,658-km trek Katherine Hudson Northern News Services Published Thursday, January 26, 2012
The pair are part of team Walking Spirits, one of five Inuvik teams taking part in the Mackenzie River Nordic Walking Challenge put on by NWT Parks and Recreation. This is the second year for the challenge, where teams participate in activities and record their distances or times in the hopes of reaching a final distance of 1,658 km – the length of the Mackenzie River from Fort Providence to Tuktoyaktuk. The event takes place from Jan. 1 to Feb. 29. Both Grandjambe and Thompson were introduced to Nordic walking last year. "It's great, I just love it. It's great exercise outdoors," said Grandjambe. Grandjambe's son has even joined the team this year – keen to get out and get his one hour of walking with his mom. The same 20 people who teamed up together last year are a part of Walking Spirits. The team usually gets together on the weekends to walk on Boot Lake, or breaks into smaller groups to perform their activities. According to the NWT Recreation and Parks Association, more than 600 Northerners have registered to do the walk – comprising 46 teams from 18 communities. "The challenge is to get people walking and motivated to be physically active, outside in the dark cold months of January and February," said Sheena Tremblay, active communities co-ordinator for the NWT Recreation and Parks Association. She said one hour of walking equals five kilometres of distance and the association is accepting all types of activities such as swimming, running or cross-country skiing. "We are trying to promote Nordic walking but as long as people are getting active and getting outside, that's what matters," said Tremblay. Although the deadline to register a team has passed, people can join existing teams up until Feb. 1. Every team that reaches its goal – being the full distance or a shorter distance for teams with only a handful of members – gets a T-shirt and a chance at First Air flight passes, a Canada Goose jacket, a Nintendo Wii Fit and a pair of Northern mittens. "Our numbers have increased compared to last year's total of 550 participants, 34 teams and 14 communities," said Tremblay. She said, in total, there are 71 people and five teams participating in the challenge from Inuvik. Last year there were only three teams from Inuvik.
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