Beaufort woman gets family to participate in 5K to walk off Thanksgiving food
For the second year in a row the Stewart Family has participated in the GirlTrek Black Family 5K, which is a national program to get families up and walking after eating all of that heavy food on Thanksgiving.
Last year they had 30 family members participate, but this year they had around 45 participate.
Farante Stewart-Ager, of Beaufort, organized the event both years because she wanted to see her family become more active.
GirlTrek is a national non-profit organization that encourages black women and girls to live and promote a healthy lifestyle, and Stewart-Ager felt that this event would be the perfect way to get her family up and moving.
“Before last year, our family really wasn’t very active. We had one member who ran marathons, but other than that people didn’t like to move too much,” Stewart-Ager said. “Now, I know at least a few of my family members went on to participate in other 5Ks because they realized it wasn’t as hard as they thought.”
According to Stewart-Ager, heart disease and obesity are two of the biggest health issues among black women in the U.S. and she does not want to see members of her family affected by those health issues any more than they already are.
“The second year was a success, but we are already looking forward to next year to figure out how we can get more people out ‘treking’,” Stewart-Ager said.
To learn more about GirlTrek and their Black Family 5K go to facebook.com/healthyblackwomenandgirls.
This story was originally published November 25, 2017 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Beaufort woman gets family to participate in 5K to walk off Thanksgiving food."