Fitness event to take place at Stephen Decatur Park

FILE PHOTO/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
Fall Just Walk Berlin participants bundle up as they stroll through Stephen Decatur Park on Tripoli Street off of Route 113. Registration for the eighth annual walk will start at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2.

By Rachel Ravina, Staff Writer

(Oct. 31, 2019) Area residents can take a stroll this Saturday morning during the eighth annual “Fall Just Walk Berlin” at Stephen Decatur Park.

Registration for the walk is free, and will open at 8:30 a.m. The walk is expected to begin at 9 a.m. at the park on Tripoli Street off Route 113. Walkers can choose from one-, two- or three-mile courses.

Participants are also eligible to win a Fitbit from a free raffle during the event, according organizers.

Mimi Dean, director of prevention services for the Worcester County Health Department, said 31 people participated in last fall’s event.

Mike Wiley, a member of the Berlin Parks Commission, added that typically half of the participants will come back year after year.

Representatives from the Worcester County Health Department, Worcester County Recreation and Parks, Town of Berlin, and Atlantic General Hospital joined forces to stage the walk.

“This is a great event, and another example of productive partnerships within our community,” said Travis Brown, public information officer for the health department. “The days may be getting shorter, but there is plenty of time to explore our Worcester County parks and to get outside and get moving.”

Dean added that the walk’s priority it to promote health and wellness. “It encourages and promotes physical activity in our beautiful, local parks, and connects community residents with one another and nature,” Dean said last week.

Walking offers a variety of health benefits, including strengthening bones and muscles and helping to prevent or manage heart disease, Type 2 diabetes or high blood pre sure, according to health experts.

Other improvements include maintaining a healthy weight, as well as improving one’s mood, balance and coordination, health experts said.

Dean said the health department also sponsors a do-it-yourself Just Walk program, in which participants self-report their activities.

For more information about the program, visit justwalkworcester.org.