By Kate Seegraves

It’s a Monday morning at the Pickerington Senior Center. Clogging instructor Bettie Kennedy, 54, puts on her headset and turns up a country song on her portable boom box. She proceeds to lead a small cluster of dancers through an hour’s worth of clogging, their special double tap shoes clinking merrily against the linoleum floor.

The Newark resident has been leading the clogging class for 11 years, she says, and has been clogging for about 20 years. While the clogging class is a good social tool, Kennedy says the health benefits cannot be ignored.

“We dance continually through the hour,” she says. “You can burn 200 to 300 calories. We don’t participate in dance that’s really hard, but it can get your heart rate up so you burn the calories.”

Pickerington-area residents looking for an alternative to the gym will be pleased to discover several other fitness outlets at their disposal. These include classes offered by the Pickerington Parks and Recreation Department, as well as other casual fitness clubs and organizations.

Kennedy’s class is a middle-of-the-road workout, she says: exertion without being too hard on the body. The class, which fluctuates in members, tends to attract older dancers, but the exercise level isn’t too much for them to handle.

“A lot of the class is older, so this is a good way to get gentle exercise,” she says. “It’s not hard on the knees and legs like jogging.”

Kennedy also says the class does much for mental health.

“We think that remembering the steps and holding on to that information is good for our brains and for fighting off some of those particular issues,” she adds.

Another body-and-mind class offered in the community is yoga. Pickerington resident Pam Gay leads a twice-weekly yoga class for the Parks and Rec department at Harmon Middle School. The course teaches the stretching moves and poses yoga is typically known for, and includes a relaxation segment at the end of each class.

According to Gay, who has taught yoga for more than eight years, people of all strength and fitness levels are welcome to participate.

“I have a mother and a daughter, who is 8 years old, and I had a couple of 83-year-olds not too long ago,” she says. “I have all ages – from beginners to advanced.”

The class is affordable and doesn’t require much – Gay says each session only costs $3 to participate, and the only item participants must bring is a yoga mat.

“The good thing about this class is that you don’t have to sign up,” she says. “You can come at your own convenience, and it’s not expensive. It’s the real deal.”

For a completely free and fun fitness activity, runners of all speeds can link up with the Columbus Running Company’s open-to-the-public running group. The group fluctuates in the number and ages of its participants – Columbus Running Company owner Jim Jurcevich says he’s had 20-somethings through 60-somethings come out for runs – and meets outside the store’s Pickerington location on Thursday evenings (during spring and summer months) and Saturday mornings (all year). According to Jurcevich, the running group measures out short and long distances for runners of all paces, and participants run the gamut of new to experienced runners.

“We’ve been doing (the running group) for almost four years now,” Jurcevich says. “We had people in the store who run and liked to get together to run, and it just kind of grew from that. Saturday seems like the best day for people – that’s always the biggest run.”

People come to the group with different goals in mind, Jurcevich says. Some are merely looking for a way to get in shape while others seek to improve their performances in competition. Most have a social agenda in mind, as well.

“There are some people that do have something to get ready for, but the rest of the people run on their own during the week and maybe just want help getting out the door, or they want somebody to chat with,” he says. “It’s more a social thing than people running really fast to improve their times.”

Kennedy says her clogging class has its social perks, as well.

“For some people, it’s more about the social atmosphere,” she says. “It’s a chance to be out and around people and do something food for you at the same time.”

Are you looking for a new fitness group or opportunity? Check out these Central Ohio links for more information:

Columbus Running Company (running group): www.columbusrunning.com  
Pickerington Parks and Recreation Department (for fitness classes): www.ci.pickerington.oh.us/sections/community/parks.asp  
Columbus Pacers (running club): www.cbuspacers.com  
GO Kickball: www.gokickball.com  
Speedy Sneakers (for women): www.speedysneakers.com  
Central Ohio Hiking Club: www.ymcacolumbus.org/hike  
Moms in Motion fitness groups: www.momsinmotion.com  
Columbus Outdoor Pursuits: www.outdoor-pursuits.org  
Central Ohio Runners: www.centralohiorunners.org  
Columbus Roadrunners: www.columbusroadrunners.org  

Kate Seegraves is editor of Pickerington Magazine.