Communities in Motion: Community Challenges

The most difficult challenge for most people who have decided to be more active is staying active. After the initial spurt of energy lasting a week or two, many people start to slack off and return to their sedentary lifestyles or get caught up in the busy schedules of work, home and kids. A good way of motivating people to stay on track is to make them accountable in some way for the time that they spend being active. Challenges are an effective way of keeping participants motivated. Participants can be organized by age group, gender or activity level. Often a predetermined time period is set, during which participants adhere to the program. The challenge can be set up as a competition with a winner or it can be one in which everyone who completes the program and keeps up with the challenge gets a reward.

Thinking about organizing a physical activity challenge

• Consider the goal. For example, exercise for 30 or more minutes a day 5-7 days a week for 10 weeks
• Determine the intended participants. Is it for a particular age group or is it open to everyone? If it is open to all, set age-appropriate goals for each age group (youth, adult and seniors, for example)
• Set the start and end date (e.g., New Year till Easter) or allow rolling registration where participants are free to join at anytime and choose their own start and end dates
• Establish registration procedures for the challenge
• Track progress. Designate who keeps track of the progress
• Plan rewards for successful participants at the end of the challenge. Will there be a single winner per age category or does everyone who completes the challenge receive an award?
• Publicize the challenge well and appropriately for the target group. For example, have teachers encourage students to register for a school-based challenge. For a general challenge, use bulletin boards, leaflets, mail, email and faith-based organizations. Organize a public event to attract both the public and the media
• Plan periodic follow-up publicity to maintain motivation
• Maintain records of success. This will help motivate additional people and to raise funds for future programs and extension of programs