Walk to Tuk hoping for a team from every NWT community

The 2020 Walk to Tuk began this week with teams from 17 communities already signed up to walk 1,658 km as part of the annual challenge.

As of Thursday, organizers said 1,942 of the territory’s residents had committed to walk the conceptual distance of the Mackenzie River from Fort Providence to Tuktoyaktuk.

So far, 185 teams from 17 communities are signed up for the dead-of-winter fitness challenge. Though the walk period began on January 2, registration remains open until January 16.

The NWT Recreation and Parks Association said this week its ultimate goal is to reach a point at which every NWT community enters a team in the Walk to Tuk.

Last year, 363 teams in 30 communities signed up. More than 200 people from outside the territory also joined in.

The association encouraged groups of friends, schoolmates, and colleagues are to sign up. For inspiration, the association included a selection of past team names, among them Ice Road Tukkers, Chafing the Dream, Gwich’in Nahtraahadaal, Tuk Norris, and Dehcho Cuzzins.

Teams must commit to walking the distance between January 2 and February 29. If walking outside isn’t your thing, organizers say both indoor and outdoor activities can be logged, including snowshoeing, dancing, swimming, biking, and cross-country skiing.