A total of 38 runners participated in the Dent County Health Center’s “Walk, Waddle, or Run 5K” on Saturday morning at Southwest Baptist University. The event was held to recognize National Public Health Week and bolster the ongoing Billion Steps Challenge.

Administrator Kendra Mobray said this was the first 5K held by the health center, but it’s planned to be an annual event going forward.

It’s just the latest success for the health center which earlier this year garnered national attention for reporting more 65 million steps as part of the Billion Steps Challenge. And that figure was from before the running of Saturday's 5K.

"We've been able to accomplish a lot with such a small staff, we are we thankful for all the community support," Mobray said Saturday. "It really says something when a community like Salem is spotlighted by a national organization for the local success we've enjoyed by working together." 

Due to the large number of steps we reported, we caught the attention of the American Public Health Association. They were very interested and asked for information and pictures so they could do a blog post about Dent County and what we had done with this challenge.

In November of 2016, the Missouri Public Health website, invited the health center to participate in a nationwide Billion Step Challenge being organized by the American Public Health Association. Five-hundred pedometers were purchased and handed out at the Christmas parade in December – along with information about the Billion Step Challenge. In early January health center officials also visited approximately 15 businesses, which included the hospital, courthouse, banks and schools. By January 7, 28 teams and 25 individuals signed up, for a total of 220 people.

Steps are recorded on a weekly basis, running from Friday to Thursday. Participants call, text, or fax their step count to us every Friday. At the end of the fourth week there were three teams and three individuals who had increased their steps each week. Each has been presented with a small gift and record of steps walked so far in recognition of their hard work.

Weekly step counts are posted on the sign on the health center’s building. Walls and bulletin boards in the waiting room are also dedicated to tracking steps and promoting this event.

The Billion Steps Challenge is nearing completion and will wrap up on April 7.