Let's Get 1 Million Indigenous People Moving!

Contributed by: Tucson Indian Center "Just Move It!" 5K Run/Walk Series

Completed 8/22/06 with 198 participants

The “Just Move It!” 5K Run/Walk Series was held on the Tohono O’odham Nation, the Pascua Yaqui Reservation, and two locations in the city of Tucson.  The series consisted of a competitive and non-competitive component.  The events were scheduled over a 4 week period in the evenings for the convenience of the participants.  A free “Just Move It!” (JMI) t-shirt was provided to all registered participants.  Additionally, incentives or prizes were awarded for the top 3 male and female competitive runners.  All other participants were entered to win for a raffle drawing.  Prizes included resistance bands, jump ropes, lanyards, pedometers, running hydration pack, running hydration bottle, water bottles, running arm wallets, and visors.  Healthy snacks, beverages and water were also available to all participates to enjoy at the conclusion of the run/walk.  An information booth was on hand to distribute information on diabetes and other health issues.  Glucose screenings was also available for all participants.

 

An average of 46 individuals attended each of the four events.  A total of 198 participated in the entire JMI Series.  An average of 10 participated competitively at each event. 

Best Features:
The event was great in every possible way. It was a social gathering for the Native Indian Community. It opened doors for co-collaboration among organizations and agencies. A healthy environment for casual and avid runners to compete competitively. A haven for families to enjoy and interactively spend time with their kids. Provided an opportunity to educate and disseminate information on diabetes and other health issues in Native American communities.

Creative Features:
The establishment of collaborative efforts between the Tucson Indian Center, the Pascua Yaqui Health Department Diabetes Program, and the Tohono O’odham Nation Healthy O’odham Promotion Program thus providing a bridge to better promote, educate, a bring awareness of diabetes and health issues in our Native Indian communities. Building a competitive component into the event was something new which required a lot work but very successful and enjoyable for the participants.

Challenges:
Initial challenges that we encountered primarily had to do with the set-up of the competitive component. We lacked the volunteers and equipment that was necessary to implement this component of the event. Due to scheduling the event later in the evening (6:00 pm – 8:00 pm) and rainy weather conditions (monsoon season), participants were prevented from finishing the course and the postponement of an event. Another significant problem had to do with sign-in and filling out of forms at the registration table which became chaotic at times.

Future Plans:
We plan to continue the “Just Move It!” 5K Run/Walk Series (competitive and non-competitive) on a yearly basis, thus an annual event. We would also like to make it a six week series rather than a four week series. We shall see how this works out next year!

Lessons Learned

The collaborating organizations provided the necessary equipment and the recruitment of volunteers. This was a success! We are looking at scheduling the JMI Series earlier in the summer when the sun sets later in the evening and before the monsoon season, possibly in Mid June through early July. To minimize the chaotic process of registration, tables were set-up for both competitive and non-competitive participants. First time participants had to sign-in and fill-out the necessary forms. Previous participants either initialed or checked off their names from a sign-in sheet. This allowed the registration process to run quickly and smoothly.