Everyone can agree 2020 has been a strange year and 2021 isn't looking much different, with a number of celebrations and festivals having to either cancel or re-think how they operate to avoid spreading Covid-19, but one longstanding NWT tradition is putting the boots to the pandemic and encouraging people to get moving.
Walk to Tuk, now in its 11th year, announced it will be accepting team registrations as of Dec. 1.
"Walk to Tuk, is a great way to stay active, and healthy this winter," said NWT Recreation and Parks Association executive director Sheena Tremblay. "Last year, each Walk to Tuk participant accumulated well over the recommended 150 minutes of exercise per week in the Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines.
"I encourage everyone to use Walk to Tuk as motivation to get outside this winter!"
Tremblay added in this year walkers across the NWT combined for a total of 688,588 kilometres during January and February. Together, 4,387 people from 26 communities across the NWT took park in the Arctic effort.
Walk to Tuk is an annual contest running in the first two months of the year, where participants register a team online and then clock the time or distance they spend being active, either by walking distances for bouts of at least 15 continuous minutes or more stringent activities. As time or mileage is accumulated, the team's market moves further along a path from Fort Providence to Tuktoyaktuk and back.
This year, 220 teams completed the 1,658 kilometre equivalent of walking to Tuktoyaktuk, and 41 teams managed to complete the whole 3,316 kilometre round trip.
Weekly prize draws are open to all participants. The grand prize, open to anyone who completes the race, is a brand new fat bike for students and Canadian North flight passes for adults.
Registration is open until Jan. 15. Teams can register online at https://www.walktotuk.com.
The Walk to Tuk officially starts Jan. 1, 2021 and runs until Feb. 28.