Jean Marie River – or Tthets’éhk’edélı̨ – has the highest number of Walk to Tuk participants, per capita, of any NWT community, organizers said on Wednesday.
The Dehcho community of 96 has 15 people on two teams taking part in the Walk to Tuk challenge, which involves collectively walking a distance of 1,658 km to symbolize the distance from Fort Providence to Tuktoyaktuk. In total, 4,900 people are signed up from 27 NWT communities.
The event, in its 10th year, is still reporting record numbers according to organizers – with a four-percent year-on-year rise in participation this year.
Jess Dunkin, executive director of the NWT Recreation and Parks Association, said 650 participants had been considered a great success in the event’s first year.
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“It has been so wonderful to see this community-based physical activity event embraced by so many people in the NWT and beyond,” Dunkin said in a news release issued by the association on Wednesday.
Since Walk to Tuk’s inception, the challenge has been completed 27,000 times. This year’s event wraps up on February 28 – you can view the 420 teams and their progress to Tuk here.
