Weber in Motion gets participants off the couch and racing
Liz Harrison, left, celebrates with Julie Story after finishing the Ogden Half Marathon on Saturday, May 16, 2015. Harrison just completed her first year with Weber in Motion, a program through Weber State University designed to encourage community members to get more active. Story is part of the Weber in Motion staff and in charge of strength training for the program.
Connie Price, right, celebrates as she crosses the finish line of the Ogden Half Marathon on Saturday, May 16, 2015. Price trained for the race with Weber in Motion, a program through Weber State University designed to encourage community members to get more active.
Connie Price, right, approaches the finish line of the Ogden Half Marathon on Saturday, May 16, 2015. Price trained for the race with Weber in Motion, a program through Weber State University designed to encourage community members to get more active.
Liz Harrison, left, celebrates with Julie Story after finishing the Ogden Half Marathon on Saturday, May 16, 2015. Harrison just completed her first year with Weber in Motion, a program through Weber State University designed to encourage community members to get more active. Story is part of the Weber in Motion staff and in charge of strength training for the program.
The nearly 50 members of Weber in Motion pose with their shirts as they prepare to run in the Ogden half marathon or 5K.
EDEN — Heavy rains seemed just a small obstacle for dozens of members of Weber in Motion who were running Saturday in the half marathon or 5K offerings of the Ogden Marathon.
That’s because they’d already overcome much adversity just to get there.
The event itself was proof that the Weber State University group — designed to get people in the community active who have lived sedentary lives — has fulfilled its mission.
“You’ve got runners running past you cheering you on,” said Carolyn Russell of Hooper, who has just completed her third year in the program. “That makes you feel good. At least we are doing something besides sitting on the couch.”
Russell said while the Ogden Marathon is the icing on the cake for Weber in Motion participants, there are many other benefits and enjoyable aspects of the program.
“Weber in Motion has motivated me to exercise no matter what size I am and not be ashamed,” Russell said. “There are other people in the program in the same boat I am in. The program is motivational and we motivate each other.”
Weber in Motion is just one example of ways people today can buck the trend of obesity and failure to move.
A recent study published in The Wall Street Journal said 28 percent of Americans today lead sedentary lives.
The study by the Physical Activity Council said 83 million Americans did nothing at all to maintain fitness last year and that represented an 18 percent increase from 2007.
But Rod Hansen, WSU faculty representative for Weber in Motion, said such statistics are nothing new.
He said when he was in graduate school 25-30 years ago, there also was a large percentage of the population not doing anything to be physically active. He said people can change by finding something to do and sticking with it.
Hansen recalled a study by Cooper Clinic in Texas in 1990 finding that those who incorporated exercise into their routines simply by parking further away when they went somewhere and by taking the stairs several times a day were found to be comparably as healthy as those who had regular exercise routines.
Russell and Weber in Motion participants began in January with twice-weekly meetings to exercise with the Weber in Motion program. Saturday mornings the group has walked together. Wednesday evenings have been for exercise such as strength training and classes on health and nutrition.
Participation in the Ogden Marathon is built in as the end goal of the program each year.
“It’s kept me motivated to keep more active,” said Connie Price, 60, of Layton, who just finished her second year in the program. “After the marathon last year, I just kept the training schedule. At least three or four times a week, I would run and walk. As a result of that, I did lose 40 pounds. I just wanted to keep active so I signed up again.”
And Price said she’s also discovered a new hobby of hiking.
“My family likes to hike a lot,” she said. “I can out hike a lot of them. I have more stamina and more energy.”
And being able to have energy is huge for Price as she was diagnosed with low thyroid prior to her becoming active. “I just felt like I was tired all the time,” she said.
The program started in 2007 through a collaboration between Julie Hansen, Rod’s wife, who is a registered dietitian and an adjunct faculty member at WSU, and an area physician, Rod Hansen said.
The program at first was called Women in Motion, which was discovered to be a registered trade mark. It become Weber in Motion as WSU took over the program and it was redesigned also to be inviting to men.
Rachel Smith now is the director of Weber in Motion. She said she has been happy to see the transformation in the lives of the participants.
“A lot of them said ‘This is the first thing I have done for myself since the kids moved out of the house,’ ” Smith said. “They are taking care of themselves.”
In years past, Weber in Motion participants have done a relay during the Ogden Marathon, which has evolved to full participation and greater commitment by all in the class, organizers said.
Last year, many participants just wanted to finish the race, Smith said.
But this year, she said participants set goals of individual times and other achievements.
“It has been good for me to see,” she said. Also a positive has been seeing participants lose weight, Smith said, even though weight loss was not a goal of the program.
She said those who lost weight did so even though they were not focused on the numbers on a scale.
“It was a byproduct of just doing the physical activity and doing the nutrition,” Smith said. “It happened because they were living a healthy lifestyle.”
Weber in Motion will begin accepting applications for the 2016 program in November. More information is available at weber.edu/weberinmotion/.
Applicants must meet the requirements of having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more. Past participants must have an attendance record of at least 75 percent.
The program starts mid January and ends with a banquet the week following the marathon.
You may reach reporter JaNae Francis at 801-625-4228. Follow her on Twitter at JaNaeFrancisSE. Like her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SEJaNaeFrancis.