Globe Walk challenges older adults to become more active and social
Kathy Fenton loves to dance and tries to do it as much as she can, despite being 92 years old.
The Globe Walk organized by the Saskatoon Council on Aging is a great way to get moving, whether it’s through dancing or other physical activities like walking, she says.
“I wouldn’t walk near as much if I didn’t have this. I’d be lazy.”
The Globe Walk is a four-month challenge that began as a way to get older adults more active and more social during the winter months. Over the last five years, 10,938 people have participated, collectively logging 1,853,930 miles.
“The first year we planned to walk around the globe once, and we ended up going around about six times,” says Janet Barnes, cochair of the challenge. “Since then, we’ve been to the moon and back.”
The theme for this year’s Globe Walk celebrated the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The celebration luncheon, held on Wednesday, hosted a full house with lots of food, entertainment and special guests, including Canadian Paralympian Colette Bourgonje as a keynote speaker.
“Physical activity is important when you’re young, but it’s important all the way through our journeys,” Bourgonje said.
“Empowering others through sport is really super powerful. There’s a lot of lessons learned through sport, and passing that on will be something that I’ll try to do today.”
Phyllis Slater, 92, participated in the Globe Walk for the first time this year, but she has loved to walk throughout her life. She always tries to walk outside, even in winter, she said. “Sometimes it’s too cold for me, but (then) I walk around the building inside,” she added. “It just gets me out of the house when I want to get out.”