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Early Saturday morning runners were seen downtown in the brisk cold as Walk Across Hamblen held its kick off walk.

More than 20 community members met Downtown Morristown and walked throughout Main Street as their route for the walk.

This is the fifth Walk Across Hamblen event hosted by Healthy Hamblen, an initiative that promotes a healthy lifestyle in the county.

“Walkers were bundled up as Morristown Parks and Recreation, Hamblen County EMA, and the Morristown Police Department, along with volunteers directed traffic so walkers could follow the Main Street 5k route,” said Frankie Cox, chair of the Hamblen County Health Council.

The 5K is only the kickoff event for Walk across Hamblen as the event will continue throughout the months of March and April.

“The spring challenge will be held for six weeks with the 22 teams submitting their team’s total miles walked each week to compete for the most miles walked across Hamblen County,” Cox said.

Healthy Hamblen asks participants to form teams of 2 to 10 people and designate a team leader to track miles walked.

Each team member will log weekly miles and send them to the team leader for 6 weeks, and the leader will submit those totals weekly by Friday at 6 p.m.

Winners with the most miles walked will be announced on Monday May 1 and medals for First, Second and Third place will be awarded at the Hamblen County Health Council’s May meeting.

A bonus award of a $10 gift card for each team member will be awarded based on a random drawing compiled of all the teams who log in 400 miles at the end of the program.

Teams are encouraged to post their progress on all social media platforms using the hashtag #walkacrosshamblen2023.

Registration to compete in Walk Across Hamblen is still open so visit Healthy Hamblen’s webpage for more information.

“Walk as a team, as individuals, or on Monday’s with the community at Monday Mile where the groups meet at designated parks at 5 pm or 6 pm to walk a mile in a different park each week,” Cox said.

Healthy Hamblen will meet at several local parks for its Monday Mile walks every Monday beginning at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.

The walks will begin March 20 at Fulton Hill Park starting at the Colonnades, March 21 at the WSCC Trail starting at the trailhead, April 3 at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park starting at the Dockery-Wilson Pavilion, April 10 at Fred Miller Park starting at the Bishop-Goodman Shelter, April 17 at Cherokee Park starting at the Veteran’s Building and the final walk will be at Wayne Hansard Park at Shelter no. 1.

The Healthy Hamblen initiative started in 2016 after the creation of the Healthier Tennessee initiative.

After two years of hosting events and promoting a healthier way of living the initiative received state level recognition for its efforts.

In 2019 the initiative was designated by the Governor’s Foundation as a Bronze Healthier Tennessee Community and recognized as the community partner of the year for their efforts.

Even after the state’s program dissolved the county’s program continued to promote its mission. It is currently one of three initiatives still active in the state.

For more information on Healthy Hamblen or Walk Across Hamblen contact Frankie Cox, 423-586-0260.