Moving Starke County Forward Treks Into Space

Posted on June 27, 2016
Author Mary Perren, WKVI 

The moon is the destination for this summer’s Moving Starke County Forward Get Moving Challenge. The fourth annual event encourages community members to get up and get moving by walking, biking or taking part in any physical activity of their choice.

This year’s theme is Starke County Walks to the Moon, with a goal of virtually reaching the lunar surface by late August. Participants are reminded to log their miles each week so they will count toward the collective total.

So far, the summer challenge has over 135 individual participants in addition to 15 different teams. The “Toto Trekkers” is currently in the lead with over 386 combined miles. As for individual standings, Jennifer Moore is leading the way to space with over 105 personal miles in less than one month. As a county, participants have already logged more than 1,214 miles.

Together, participants have exceeded the highest altitude ever reached by a paper plane (21.77 miles). They’ve also surpassed the point at which suborbital space begins (62 miles) and currently remain in low Earth orbit. They sped quickly past the International Space Station, which is an estimated 249 miles from Earth and zoomed on by the Hubble Space Telescope with an orbit height or 347 miles.

The group’s next destination will be the area in space where the Explorer 1 orbited at a height of 903 miles. They will be exiting low Earth orbit and entering medium Earth orbit at 1,243 miles, so promoters urge participants to check their oxygen!

Winners will be announced in late August, and prizes will be awarded to those with the highest number of miles or steps for the entire challenge. There’s still time to sign up.

Moving Starke County Forward is an ongoing coalition of leaders whose purpose is to improve the quality of life and encourage, create and advocate for a healthy Starke County. The group was formed in 2012 after Starke County ranked 91st out of 92 counties in Indiana health rankings; Starke County currently ranks 90th in health outcomes and 87th in health factors among Indiana’s 92 counties.

For more information about Moving Starke County Forward, contact movingscforward@gmail.com. To join the walking program, visit Moving Starke County Forward’s Facebook page for more information.