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Many walkers took part around the area yesterday as part of Governor Terry Branstad’s Healthiest State Initiative.  The Governor’s goal is to make Iowa the healthiest state in the nation in five years.  The first part of that goal was the Start Somewhere Walk.

Edie Nebel from Washington County Public Health says over 2,600 people participated in the walk in the county.  She says the Governor’s goal was to have 250,000 people walking at one time.

Nebel notes the purpose of that goal was to break a world record set by Canada of having the most people walking at one time.  According to the Healthiest State Initiative website, more than 291,000 people took part in the walk across the state.

She says the walks were also held in an effort to reduce obesity.  To see how many people walked at each location in the county, look here: Walk Tally

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