Ann Stine will walk 50 miles and Carolyn Bennett will walk 50 more, to be the team that walks 100 miles to meet at Meridian Township’s door.
Dressed in a pink dress, black tights and her walking shoes, Stine, an East Lansing court recorder, came to work Tuesday at City Hall, 410 Abbott Road, ready to walk her daily two miles.
Stine, along with East Lansing city employees and Meridian Township employees, is taking part in the Meridian Township/East Lansing Employee Fitness Challenge.
“I am doing it for the challenge,” Stine said. “Plus for my own fitness.”
The challenge has the two municipalities competing for who can walk 100 miles in 100 days first. At the end of the 100 days the two teams plan to walk to the East Lansing-Meridian Township border and declare the winner.
“We are hoping to do this every year,” said George Lahanas, human resource administrator for East Lansing. “We are going to have a trophy, which will travel each year between the winning team.”
The challenge comes as part of Meridian Township’s Health and Wellness Program. The township received a grant from the Michigan Community Health Department, which funds such things as a health assessment and cholesterol screenings.
Paul J. Brake, personnel director/assistant township manager for Meridian Township, said he came across a similar program and decided to turn it into a competition with East Lansing employees.
“We were looking for something that would get the employees enthusiastic and would have a broad appeal for employees who may not usually participate,” he said.
Brake contacted Lahanas and suggested the friendly competition.
“It gives people motivation to get out and get active,” Brake said. “I saw some employees walking (Tuesday) - everyone is embracing this enthusiastically.”
Bennett, East Lansing’s community and economic development administrator, said about 200 East Lansing employees and 100 Meridian Township employees are taking part in the competition. The miles are tallied on a proportionate base, because Meridian Township has half as many employees as East Lansing does, so Meridian Township only has to walk half as many miles to win, Lahanas said.
Bennett said each employee is tackling the task in his or her own way.
“Some are running, biking or doing it on their own time,” Bennett said. “We have all ages participating, from a 60-year-old who walked Monday to a 25-year-old.”
Bennett also said the employees are not only participating for the competition but for their health as well.
“We are trying to push ourselves to do a 15-minute mile,” she said. “Our goal is to walk two miles in a half an hour.
“It’s a lot more fun with people and competition.”
While it’s only three days into the competition, both sides have already declared a winner.
“We don’t do much trash-talking over here,” Brake said. “But of course we are going to win.”
East Lansing employees, however, don’t agree with Brake’s prediction.
“I’ve already walked six and a half miles,” Stine said. “We are going to beat Meridian Township.”
