buckheadWALKS!: 20,000,000 Calories Burned

Posted May 27, 2020

In Community, Health and Wellness, Mobility

Anna Sharp and walk coach, Louie.

If you have not been keeping up, myself and almost 500 other Buckhead residents and commuters are in the final stretches of the buckheadWALKS! month-long walk challenge. And what a wild ride the last month has been! Well, really let’s be honest, what a topsy-turvy few months we have all had. In the midst of a global pandemic, I like to believe the walk challenge brought a little bit of consistency, especial when a sign of the times is an internet joke about the days of the week morphing to just “day”.

As we wind down on an exciting month of challenges and events, it is poignant to reflect back on what we were able to accomplish as a whole during the walk challenge. When this week comes to a close, the walk challenge participants will have participated 36 events – that’s at-home scavenger hunt, meditation sessions, commute logging, at-home virtual Run/walk Club events, happy hours and community partner led workout classes and webinars.

Our 74 active teams and participants have walked over 105,000 miles, at our virtual events and challenges, over 2000+ have attended those 36 events but that does not truly capture the magnitude of what was REALLY accomplished. So…I did a little math 😀

Collectively, our participants have burned roughly 20 MILLION calories or roughly 5500 lbs, which to put in perspective is equivalent to the weight of one Mercedes Sprinter Van or one new BUC Shuttle Van. On Tuesdays we’ve walked over 1,000 miles in 2+ continuous walks and we’ve toasted 209 drinks.

While those numbers are important and SO gratifying to see, what I see as the true measure of the success of this challenge was the content, we learned from our community partners. Who knew you could freeze home grown lettuce or how easy it is to take care of our Chattahoochee watershed from our own backyards or how impactful it is to dedicate towards staying active in our busy schedules, or even the proper way to stretch before our walks. How about the number of lives lost in the state of Georgia due to breast cancer? There are so many incredible organizations and businesses bringing so much to the Buckhead community and it is our hope that in the pursuit of steps you learned more about Buckhead and the organizations that shape it.

Until next year!