The New Albany Walking Classic® (The Walk) has been a staple in the central Ohio community for 20 years and – along with generous support from local companies and community members – was integral to the founding of Healthy New Albany (HNA). Our community impact has expanded to include the Food Pantry, Community Garden, Farmers Market and the programs at the Philip Heit Center for Healthy New Albany.
There are so many ways to get involved in this community. It’s part of what makes it such a great place to live.
The mission of Healthy New Albany goes even deeper than most see. It fosters a community spirit that values longevity, health and wellness, as well as showing other communities what is possible – The Walk is one way this mission is amplified in community.
“Sitting is the new smoking,” according to the Mayo Clinic. Our lives are getting increasingly sedentary and isolated, which is posing major health risks including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, depression and anxiety. More intense or quick solutions like dieting and intense exercise are not effective when it comes to improving overall health and longevity.
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In the world’s Blue Zones – places where many people live over the age of 80 – they don’t focus on extreme measures to health. They focus on improving their environment. It’s about all the micro unconscious decisions made every day to do things in a slightly healthier way.
HNA movement programs, such as Tai Chi and Lift Like a Girl, meet people where they are on their fitness journey. Whether they are learning how to use weights for the first time or concerned about maintaining their balance and stability in older age, HNA wants everyone who take the classes to have a deeper understanding of their own health, strength and capability.
The Food Pantry doesn’t just help put food on the table, it gives people options. When they don’t have to worry about where their next meal will come from, they can instead focus on bigger goals and ideas that may change their circumstances.
Even in decisions like moving the Community Garden to Taylor Farm Park, HNA reflected on how the new garden’s location can improve wellbeing. Now, when people walk the trails, they will see the garden and think, “Maybe I can grow vegetables too.” And those who are gardening can access the trails as well.
It’s all about inspiring, cultivating and connecting those healthy ideas. But cultivation takes time and commitment. It takes a community to come together and collectively decide what is most important to them. If you want to live in a community where people live longer and spend more of that time living well, then it is important to not only maintain what we have built but keep it growing.
Join us for the 20th Anniversary of The Walk on Sept. 15 by visiting www.newalbanywalkingclassic.org.
Cassie Kelly is the Marketing Manager for Healthy New Albany.
