DHS pleased by 100 Miles in 100 Days program signups
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The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley
Davis Health Systems marketing assistant Chelsea Karriker signs a citizen up for the 100 Miles in 100 Days wellness program at the Elkins Railroad Depot. The program officially began on Friday and will run until Oct. 7.
ELKINS -- Davis Health System is once again offering its 100 Miles in 100 Days wellness program to the public in an attempt to promote health and wellness for people in all walks of life.
Registration for the self-directed program ended Friday, and program director Chad Ware said officials were pleased by the amount of people signing up for the long-standing initiative, which DHS has offered for more than 15 years.
"We are extremely happy with the amount of people who signed up for the program this year," Ware said. "We have around 500 people participating in it and there's people from all different walks of life taking part. We are thrilled that this many people are taking it upon themselves to live a healthier life."
The program is designed to get people in the habit of being active every day. It puts each individual in charge of how much they want to do and when to do it. Participants can also substitute running, biking, hiking, swimming and aerobics for walking.
Because the program's goal is to establish physical activity as a daily habit, it is recommended that each person commits 20 minutes of physical activity each day.
"Anybody can participate in this program and it allows you to work at a pace that is best for you," Ware said. "If you get to the point where you want to walk five miles in one day, you can. If you want to walk a half mile one day and three another, you can do that as well. Even if someone starts out walking just five minutes a day, that's OK, because over time they are going to build up how much they can do each day."
Ware said there are many benefits to participating in the program, including the prevention of diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis and certain cancers. When combined with a healthy eating habit, the program can help with weight loss, he said.
"The program promotes overall health and wellness, which is very important," Ware said. "We have employees here doing it and there are a lot of area businesses who put teams in it. There's a lot of different people taking part in the program and that makes us happy."
Another convenient part of the program is that participants can go online and log the miles that they walk each day. The program is scheduled to run until Oct. 7.
For more information, visit www.dhs100miles.com or go to https://www.facebook.com/DHSWV and check out the 100 Miles Facebook event.