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Memphis 'N Motion | Send Feedback
From the first time I heard Al Green sing "Let's Stay Together," I knew that I'd like the city of Memphis. I've always been charmed by the history, the blues, the ribs, the river and the genteel citizens. So, it seems appropriate that on the Saturday before the biggest feast day of the year, we got several hundred new friends together and put Memphis 'N Motion.
And as you might have guessed if there's a fun fitness party anywhere... GameBike and GamePad are in the middle of it.
Memphis 'N Motion is the brainchild of Bill Baker an executive with Grand Regions Health Plan (Centene Health), Shelby County Commissioner Deidre Malone, Leslie Casey and Sonya Griffith of Sole' Graphics publisher of FUEL for Kids magazine and a wide range of churches, after-school programs, jump rope teams, step dance teams and others who want Memphis kids to get healthier. In a short amount of time, this group made some noise!
This first annual fitness party was staged to show how much fun families can have when they kick up a little dust and do some serious playing. As has been pointed out in several national surveys, the city of Memphis is ranked high in several unhealthy categories. The city has been ranked at the top of the "most sedentary" cities and "percentage of obesity". As a result, the chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart diseases have wreaked havoc on the health care delivery system in the city and the lives of families that are affected.
The organizers of Memphis 'n Motion have set out to change this...one jump rope hop at a time.
So, did anybody have any fun at Memphis 'n Motion? Click here and see for yourself.
One of the big hits at MnM was the Memphis Grizzlies NBA street team. In addition to getting half the audience on stage to dance with the team mascot "Grizz", the team brought along coaches who gave video tips to young hoopsters. The Riverdale Ropers got this party started with an incredible demonstration of jump rope mastery. The White Station High School STEP Team is ready to play the big arenas! D-1 Sports recently opened in the city, showed kids how to run faster and farther. Plus, there were martial arts demonstrations from Keith Freeman, bounce houses, jump rope challenges, hula hoopla and healthy snacks at the FUELing Station.
As usual, the GameBikes and GamePads tent was packed with kids who wanted to put the pedal to the metal and boogie down. The official GameBike wrangler for MnM was Scott Brasher of Time Travel Fitness of Birmingham, Alabama. Should he ever decide to get married and start a family, he now knows why it is important to keep kids active. When they are exhausted from pedaling, there is little energy left to scream at each other, thump each other on the ear or scare baby brother. It's a scientific fact: Playing on a GameBike or GamePad puts that natural kid energy to good use.
Just to put an exclamation point on the day's activities, Grand Regions Health Plan made sure the kids who play at the Memphis Athletic Ministries facility get to keep pedaling and dancing on the GameBike and GamePad. Grand Regions gave both bikes and both dance pads to executive director of MAM, Gib Vestal to be permanently available to kids at this great Memphis program.
Did Memphis get 'n Motion? Yessir, I believe it did. Click here to see some press coverage to the event.
Memphis 'n Motion will be an annual event for this beautiful city. So, instead of "Walking in Memphis," Marc Cohn might be "jogging ten feet above Beale."
If you have a fitness event that we need to know about, give us a clue.