A call for frosty faces: Would you walk 1,685 km to Tuktoyaktuk... and back?
Teams across the N.W.T. will be huffing and puffing to rack up the distance to Tuk (and back, for some)
From the top of Tin Can Hill, a frosty-faced Sheena Tremblay took in the view.
"There is a beautiful sunrise, trees are all frosty and white, and the oranges and yellows are amazing on the lake," she said Thursday morning as she trekked up the popular trail in Yellowknife.
Tremblay had just walked a little bit closer to Tuktoyaktuk, one of the northernmost communities in the territory, without having to step one foot out of town.
It's part of the territory-wide fitness program Walk to Tuk — a wellness and community-building exercise.
Teams of up to 20 can register and they have from Jan. 3 to Feb. 28 to collectively walk a total of 1,658 kilometres — the distance from Fort Providence to Tuktoyaktuk — anywhere within and around their own communities.
The program awards four to five kilometres per every hour walked; that's just over 331 hours of collective walking to do in just over a month.
An interactive map tracks all teams' progress throughout the program.
Walk to Tuk started in 2011 with 550 participants.
The idea originated from a not-so-successful attempt at getting people active during the winter.
"We used to have a nordic walking program that provided poles and training for people to organize their own community walking groups," said Tremblay, the co-ordinator for the program run by the NWT Recreation and Parks Association.
"We were finding it hard to engage people in the winter so Walk to Tuk was born."
"Last year, we had over 2,500 people participate, which was amazing," said Tremblay. "So our goal and hope for this year is to have even more than that."
So far, 168 teams signed up this season, and the number is growing daily, says Tremblay.
This year, teams are challenged not only to make it to Tuk, but to walk back, a goal of 3,370 kilometres — or 663 hours of walking.
There's a grand prize of a flight pass from First Air on the line. Anyone who completes the challenge will be entered into the draw. There are other prizes for teams, captains and for submitting your frosty-faced photos and stories like these.
with files from Loren McGinnis