Got a New Year’s Resolution? Overcome Your Fear of Commitment
The New Year’s resolution is a much a part of holiday tradition as mistletoe, candy canes and stockings. Unfortunately, like those other traditions by the time February rolls around, too many resolutions are put away and forgotten until next year.
By Rob Senior
The New Year's resolution is a much a part of holiday tradition as mistletoe, candy canes and stockings. Unfortunately, like those other traditions by the time February rolls around, too many resolutions are put away and forgotten until next year.
That's why several hundred Philadelphians are signed up for Commitment Day, a New Year's Day 5K run/walk event that takes place along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
Commitment Day events take place simultaneously—beginning at 11 A.M.—in 35 cities across the United States, imploring thousands of Americans to get their health and wellness plans for 2013 off on the right foot.
"Commitment Day is a fitness revolution to inspire all Americans to commit to a healthy and active way of life," says Barb McKeever, race director for Philadelphia's Commitment Day 5K and Operation Director for Philadelphia Triathlon, LLC. "It will be a day of epic proportions as hundreds of thousands of individuals join together in support of healthy people, a healthy planet and a healthy way of life. We're thrilled that Philadelphia will be part of this revolution."
The country's statistics related to health and fitness are staggering:
Two of every three Americans are considered overweight or obese
The average American child spends over 30 percent of his or her day in front of a computer or television screen
The goal of Commitment Day is to start reversing these troubling trends and statistics by simultaneously engaging people nationwide and creating a dialogue about living a healthy lifestyle. In order to continue this trend across generations, any adult who signs up for a Commitment Day event can bring a child age 17 or under to participate free of charge.
"This is a family event. It's an ideal initiative for an entire family to get off to a healthy start, and provides adults an opportunity to provide a healthy example for their children," adds McKeever.
The event costs $39 for adults, and each participant receives a t-shirt and commitment journal that allows you to keep track of your fitness-related goals throughout 2013. Nationally, Life Time Fitness has led the founding of charity partners such as Lifetime Foundation, Special Olympics, MusiCares and the Folds of Honor Foundation.
Here in Philadelphia, Commitment Day has partnered with such entities as Bryn Mawr Running Club (with locations in Bryn Mawr and Media) and Philly Runners, which operates out of Center City. "Rather than waiting until the day of the event to pick up your race bib and information," McKeever explains, "participants can get everything they need ahead of time at one of these convenient locations."
For more information, or to register for the Philadelphia event, visit www.commitmentday.com. Participants can save $5 off the registration cost by entering code "PHLYCD13". Event organizers have also made a $10 rebate code available on the Commitment Day Facebook page.