It's the regular 3.5km walk for Laura McMahon around Safa Park. The sweltering heat does not deter her from going the extra mile, literally. She decides to do it again - another 3.5km, which she sometimes does when the weather is nice and she feels the need to stretch herself.
The reason she's happy to sweat it out is evident in her hand - a tiny green box that looks like an MP3 player. It is a pedometer that counts the steps she's taken so far. At the end of her walk the number of steps she's taken will translate into money that will be paid into a charity next month. "It's a wonderful way to donate and also keep fit," she says.
McMahon is one of the 3,000-odd people who have registered to participate in Yalla Walk, the Dubai Municipality initiative to get people using the health facilities installed in 33 parks around Dubai.
"Dubai Municipality has constructed so many parks around the city and they have all been designed to very high standards, all of them have bike and jogging tracks,' says Hussain Nasser Lootah, Director-General of the municipality. "The very best equipment has been used to attract everybody to use them. We have 33 tracks around Dubai of various distances ranging from half a kilometre to 3.9km."
The Yalla Walk initiative, which was launched in March this year, was designed to promote walking as an easy and economical way to stay fit and healthy. "Most people can fit in that activity in their day-to-day life, easily one of the cheapest ways to keep fit," says Lootah. "The municipality has provided residents with 33 safe and accessible walking tracks and it can't get easier than this."
Having provided all these great facilities, Dubai Municipality wanted to go the extra mile and ensure residents get the most out of them.
"We have been batting around ideas as to how we could encourage people to use the tracks," says Lootah. "We all know exercise is very important for the human body, and what better way to do it than by walking, jogging or biking? During one of our brainstorming sessions we came up with the idea of giving away prizes for using the facilities in the parks."
The largest health awareness campaign of its kind in the UAE, Yalla Walk's plan to attract people to the walking tracks succeeded. Competitions were a part of the campaign that ran from March 5 to 19.
"It was a competition, but we did not pit participants against each other," says Lootah. "It was a competition against oneself in which each participant set his or her own target and worked to achieve it. That in essence is what Yalla Walk is all about - improving yourself."
Participants were divided into three groups - children, men and women - and winners in each category were awarded prizes ranging from cars to PlayStations. "It turned out to be a fun family health activity and was accompanied by special activities for children, while booths allocated along the tracks offered health services and tests," says Lootah.
More than 6,000 people participated in the first promotion of Yalla Walk. "It was a big success with prizes being given out," he says. "That's when the idea of making Yalla Walk a regular feature of the Dubai Municipality's activities took hold."
Helping charity as you go
The second event - Yalla, Walk the World - was part of an event held around the world to raise money for the UN World Food Programme (WFP), held on May 27 this year at Zabeel Park.
With Yalla Walk gaining recognition, the municipality decided that it was time to align health with charity.
"As the holy month of Ramadan was coming up, we decided to the run the next instalment of Yalla Walk during Ramadan, the month of prayer and fasting," says Lootah. "That, and the fact that many citizens would be away for the summer holidays, did mean that the numbers would come down, but we wanted to test our idea of walking for charity as well as health - each kilometre covered by a participant would be converted into money that would go as charity on his or her behalf. Ramadan is, as you know, also the month to give to charity, so this would act as a double benefit for participants."
by the way …
l Registration can be done on site at Al Safa Park, Zabeel Park, Al Barsha (opposite Al Mawakeb School), Khawaneej Track, or Al Mamzar Park. You can also register online. The only information required is an email id and mobile number. If you register online, you will have to visit one of the parks and present your code in order to collect the welcome pack, which contains a pedometer, manual, T-shirt, information leaflet and rules and regulations.
l The pedometers will record the distance people walk. This can then be updated on their profile by either sending an SMS to the Municipality number or online at the website www.yallawalk.com by entering their code and distance in the allocated spaces. An automated email will be sent telling walkers their total updated distance
The municipality set up a team to carry out the planning, invited organisations such as the Al Maktoum Foundation and Al Fatan Properties to join in and contribute the money on behalf of the participants.
Reebok is also a sponsor, and has deployed the services of a fitness expert to help novice walkers get over any initial problems. "As a Reebok fitness expert my role will be educating the participants on walking, the benefits of walking and the right techniques," says Zena Habi. "I will be present at Safa Park and Zabeel Park for a walk myself twice a week and I will be ready to answer the participants' questions and take them for a warm-up before the walk."
While advice on walking may seem superfluous, Habi says that wrong posture and technique may do more harm than good. "First of all, warming up is very important prior to any physical activity, especially for those who have just taken up walking for exercise," she says.
Technique tips for the right posture include elongating your spine, but not in a rigid way; do not arch your back or lean forward. Keep looking forward with your chin up and parallel to the ground. Your shoulders should be relaxed, and your arms bent at 90 degrees, with your elbows close to your body, and hands relaxed.
Choose your path to fitness
While Yalla Walk aims to get people to use walking tracks in parks, it isn't mandatory that participants have to walk there. They can walk anywhere.
Mohammad Obaid Bin Ghannam, secretary general of the Al Maktoum Foundation, one of the sponsors of Yalla Walk, walks regularly near his home. "I walk every day on Jumeirah beach," he says. "I have my pedometer and will be measuring the distance I walk every day. I've registered and got my number so I shall be contributing too!"
Ghannam is an active participant in the initiative. "We took the decision to support Yalla Walk because of the interest of Shaikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance and Industry," he says.
What has not yet been decided is which charity or cause will benefit from the proceeds of Yalla Walk. "That decision has not yet been made," says Ghannam. "The money that is collected will go to some charity that will be decided in conjunction with Dubai Municipality."
For now, Dubai Municipality is concentrating on getting more residents to exercise and get healthy. "The move is aimed at educating the public about healthy habits during Ramadan, raising charity funds and encouraging people to walk in any of the walking tracks across Dubai," says Lootah. "We also have outdoor gyms in many of our parks, the first time they have been introduced in this area. We are looking at how to encourage people to start exercising on them, maybe in future we can look at incorporating it with the walk."
Though figures in excess of Dh500,000 have been mentioned as the final contribution, everybody fights shy of making a firm commitment. "It is Ramadan and summer too, so we didn't expect too many participants this time round," says Lootah. "The contribution of the sponsors will depend on the number of participants. We have a formula to convert the distance walked into money to be paid as contribution. So let's see."
There are plans to expand Yalla Walk to include other health-related activities. "Right now there are no plans to conduct medical camps along with Yalla Walk, but we would welcome anybody who wants to sponsor it," says Lootah.
The next installment of Yalla Walk may be held towards the end of the year.
Many people feel Yalla Walk has succeeded in creating an awareness in residents. "If a mom starts walking, then the kids follow suit with some kind of activities at the park," says McMahon. "It might catalyse the entire family to exercise together. In a city like Dubai, this is really important to safeguard our health."
Making a difference
What: Yalla Walk, an initiative launched by Dubai Municipality that donates money equivalent to the number of steps people take
Where: across Dubai
For more information, visit www.yallawalk.com