PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Officials at The Aroostook Medical Center are actively preparing for the spring edition of their annual Fit and Fun series, which comes at the heels of a successful Fit and Fun Winter Challenge.
The Fit and Fun Spring Challenge will kick off on Saturday, April 7, with the 38th annual Spring Run Off 5K at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. Registration for that event begins at 8 a.m. at Wieden Hall, with walkers starting at 9:30 a.m. and runners starting at 10 a.m. The cost of registration is $15 for individuals and $25 for three-person relay teams.
Like the winter series, TAMC will offer all spring events to the community at no or low cost and has several new additions in store. One new feature is the Run Through the System, where participants are challenged to run 500 miles, the distance between all hospitals in the Eastern Maine Healthcare System, on their own time. A kickoff for Run Through the System will be held at TAMC on Thursday, May 10, at 4:30 p.m. and will allow community members to run the first mile together.
At the end of Run Through the System, participants will receive medals based on how many miles they have tracked and be entered into a drawing for prizes. Throughout the Fit and Fun Spring Challenge, individuals can have punch cards stamped at various events for the chance to win prizes.
Punch cards will be handed to individuals when they arrive at their first Fit and Fun event. Those who have their card stamped at three events will receive a drawstring sports bag while five punches gives them a flexible frisbee and seven punches gives them a Fit and Fun T-shirt.
“People have already been asking us when can they get their punch cards, so I think having the series as a challenge has increased its momentum,” Jamie Guerrette, TAMC community health specialist, said.
This year’s Fit and Fun Winter Challenge drew more than 1,000 people in Aroostook County to activities geared toward healthy lifestyles such as free skating at The Forum, skiing, snowshoeing, free bowling and Family Fun Day at Aroostook State Park. The spring series will continue the popular $1 Sunday Swim at UMPI’s Gentile Hall on Sunday, April 15 and free bowling at Northern Lanes in Presque Isle on Saturday, April 21.
“Our goal continues to be getting children moving and we’ve found that the best way to do that is to get the whole family moving,” Guerrette said. “We had one family who said they planned to go back to the Nordic Heritage Center for skiing after they went for the first time for Fit and Fun. It’s great to provide different activities for people to try.”
Guerrette said that TAMC is still finalizing details for many Fit and Fun spring events, but will reveal the complete list soon at www.tamc.org and https://www.facebook.com/aroostookmedicalcenter. For more information on Fit and Fun, contact Guerrette at (207) 768-4008 or jguerrette@emhs.org.
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- Children pose outside UMPI’s Gentile Hall during the Spring Run Off 5K in 2017. This year the Spring Run Off 5K serves as the kickoff event for TAMC’s Fit and Fun Spring Challenge. (Courtesy of TAMC)
