Registration is now open for Homer Steps Up community walking challenge, a four week event running May 1 – 28, 2025. In its 9th year, this popular event is open to anyone on the southern Kenai Peninsula, and regularly attracts hundreds of individuals on dozens of teams to build a healthy walking routine, with prize incentives along the way.
Coordinated by South Peninsula Hospital, with support from numerous partnering agencies, the challenge is a way to help motivate the community to engage in simple ways like movement to help improve overall health, and provide a fun, interactive community event to help bridge the long, cool transition from spring to summer. Last year’s challenge had over 800 individuals enrolled on 100 teams, who logged a total of over 165 million steps.
The challenge is free to register online, and teams of at least 5 members compete by logging their steps using a wearable fitness tracker, smartphone or tracking and entering them manually. The winning team, based on a cumulative average of their members’ steps (not a total sum), gets bragging rights and their name on the traveling trophy. The top three winning teams will get the opportunity to designate cash donations to a local non-profit of their choice.
Thanks to a grant from South Peninsula Hospital Foundation, all individual participants reaching a minimum of 7,500 daily steps will be entered in to win weekly Homer Bucks. Winners will be announced weekly and all will be celebrated at the end of challenge awards event.
As part of this event, free indoor walking will be provided every Monday through from 11:45-12:45pm at SPARC, through May. During this time participants can enjoy free indoor walking, pick up free Homer Steps Up swag, get a free blood pressure reading and get assistance signing up.
Homer Steps Up is coordinated by South Peninsula Hospital and is made possible by support from the partners: City of Homer, South Peninsula Behavioral Health, SPARC, and SVT Health & Wellness. For more information and to download the user-friendly challenge app, visit www.homerstepsup.com.
