Edmontonians have been getting active over the past couple of days, climbing more than one million stairs in support of a local camp.
As part of the Healthy Steps for CHANGE event, Edmontonians were challenged to get outside and climb stairs in support of CHANGE Adventure Camp. The project started last year and helps people learn about the importance of meal preparation, nutrition and physical activity. It also provides programming and support for those who cannot afford to send their kids to camp or get involved in organized sport.
The event’s goal was to get Edmontonians to climb one million stairs over the course of the two-day event, which was held at the Grandview Stairs.
“I’m glad to say that we’ve done one million stairs collectively as the city of Edmonton,” Dr. Doug Klein said. As a family doctor in Edmonton, Klein said he has patients who struggle with their eating habits and getting enough physical activity, so he wanted to do something about it.
“Despite some of the education in schools and in the media, they really struggle on, how do they go from where they are to starting to eat healthier, create healthy meals at home for their families and get the physical activity that they need,” Klein said.
“It’s been inspiring… I’ve seen so many people here who have really pushed themselves to do a little extra. And people who aren’t used to doing stairs are challenging themselves and they’re really surprised at what they can do.”
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By Saturday morning, Klein had climbed up and down the Grandview Stairs 90 times and hoped to hit 150 flights by the time the event wrapped up Saturday afternoon. Mayor Don Iveson even got in on the fun.
“I did 600,” he said. “But I probably should put in some more later.”
Being the mayor of a huge city, Iveson said his job doesn’t always allow time for him to hit the gym, but getting active doesn’t have to be expensive or all that time consuming.
“We have the ability to be active in our city in our fantastic park spaces,” Iveson said. “It’s a beautiful place to be outside and if there’s a set of stairs you can help this initiative achieve the goal of one million stairs, which they’ve already done.
“I think this taps into Edmontonians’ desire to be healthy, to be active, to be out in their community, to celebrate these amazing parks that we’re so blessed with – and to encourage and hold each other accountable to be active, to think about our nutritional choices.”
The money raised from the event goes towards CHANGE Adventure Camp.
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