What better way to fuel your New Year resolutions and get a jump start on the spring than by participating in a friendly team fitness competition.  The AICCM staff would like to thank the Cherokee Nation for inviting our team to compete in their Route 66 “Get Fit on the Mother Road” campaign……although it hardly seems fair that we were allowed to compete.  Our team, appropriately named the Native Staties, parallels our institutional initiatives on many levels.  In a broad sense, it parallels the actual construction of our facilities.  As we reach milestones down our construction “Mother Road,” we are able to look back at how far we’ve come and also realize that we could have only made it this far with the combined sweaty efforts of so many individuals that have labored with our team along the way.  In a more direct correlation to this competition, our organization strives to create a work environment that promotes wellness, teamwork, and a sense of accomplishment for its employees.  Team Native Staties is an institutional objective in action.  You’ll never catch us attending an anti-wellness rally….or being recipients of the “Me First” award.  It would completely contradict everything we strive to accomplish.

We wish all the teams participating in the program a healthy voyage!  Go Native Staties!

"Get Fit on Route 66" is an award-winning, fun physical activity adventure designed to inspire you to be more active as you trace the famous route of this virtual highway. Whatever physical activity you enjoy doing—tennis, jogging, swimming, biking, softball, or something else, this is a fun way to motivate yourself into keeping fit. In 2006, "Get Fit on Route 66" was recognized by the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA) with an innovation in physical activity programming award.

How does it work? Your goal is to "travel" from Chicago to Santa Monica (2,448 miles) by recording your physical activity minutes. The program converts the minutes to miles with one minute equaling one mile. You set the pace, whether it's ten miles a day or sixty. You'll find it easy to use and the healthy recipes section takes the guesswork out of preparing a nutritious meal. Plus motivational emails will keep you moving. For those who have actually traveled Route 66, the program will bring back fond memories. For those who haven't, you'll discover fun facts about Route 66 along the way.

Ryan Barnett Director of Administration & Operations ryanb@aiccm.org