Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
I’m going to take completely unfair advantage of my weekly column to promote two events that I have been fortunate enough to be involved in.
I don’t want to draw attention away from Rawhide Days on May 5-6 at the Tucumcari Convention Center, or from other community events listed in today’s newspaper.
The events I mention today, however, can make people healthier while they have fun.
The first is Step into Spring, a month-long, informal walking competition that starts Saturday and ends June 8. The Quay County Health Council has devised this challenge to persuade people to use Tucumcari’s five new walking trails.
There is still time to assemble and register a team or sign up on your own at:
http://www.challengerunner.com
Look for the Step into Spring challenge and follow some simple directions.
The walking trail locations are in downtown Tucumcari starting at the Rail Depot, and at Northside Park, Dunn Park, the fitness park across Gamble Avenue from the Tucumcari High School Auditorium, and the gym inside the Tucumcari Recreation Center.
OK, you don’t have to use the trails, but you should check them out anyway.
The competition is based on steps, counted by fitness devices, cell phone apps or pedometers, or computed based on miles multiplied by 2,250, the average number of steps in a mile.
While they compete, participants will lower their risks for heart disease, diabetes and obesity, or reduce the effects of these conditions.
The other event is the second annual Wheels on Fire 100 on Sept. 30.
There is still time to derive the fun and fitness benefits of training for the main challenge, pedaling through the 100-mile loop from Tucumcari to San Jon, Grady and Ragland, then back to Tucumcari.
There are shorter distances as well.
Last year, the event drew 45 cyclists from Amarillo, Albuquerque and other New Mexico and Texas locales, plus a few from further away who happened to be in town.
A few of us locals also participated and more have told me they’re training for this year’s ride.
Last year’s participants praised the hospitality at San Jon and Grady, the light traffic and police patrols on the route.
A few stayed on for Fired Up!, the downtown community event that evening. They’ll have the same opportunity this year.
Sign up at:
wheels-on-fire-100
The fees range from $50 for the full 100-mile ride to $25 for the 25-mile option. Proceeds cover event costs.
Steve Hansen writes about our life and times from his perspective of a retired Tucumcari journalist. Contact him at: [email protected]