(Montreal) Thousands of people will walk through Quebec this weekend during La Grande marche, organized by the Grand Défi Pierre Lavoie team and the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec. The aim of the event is to be inclusive while promoting physical activity.
Posted at 11:57 am.
Coralie Laplante The Canadian Press
More than a hundred marches will take place in various municipalities across the province until Sunday. Events began Friday evening in Saguenay and 5,000 people are expected at La Grande marche de Québec on Saturday morning. The same number of walkers are expected at Montreal’s Place des Festivals around 9 a.m. on Sunday.
Unlike the Grand Défi, launched 15 years ago, which requires cycling hundreds of kilometers, the walk aims to be an accessible and inclusive event. “If we offer walks, it is much more acceptable and achievable for the vast majority of people, which is why walks are very important to us,” says Pierre Lavoie in an interview.
For the man who is also behind the Energy Cube initiative, which encourages primary school children to exercise more, it is necessary to further democratize physical activity.
The vast majority of people don’t like playing sports. But physical activity achieves them a little more. We need to democratize now, change the words, change the way of doing things. We offer achievable five kilometers without stopwatches so the vast majority of people can do it, and we make it fun.
Pierre Lavoie
In his opinion, it is important for the population to take individual responsibility for physical activity in order to prevent health problems and avoid having to cure them in the future.
“Man must consider his health as not acquired and maintain it throughout his life like a car.” The car, the happiness that we have is that we can change it. But you don’t change a body, you have it for life,” he says.
This preventative approach also includes the Grand Défi’s collaboration with the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec, whose members have prescribed physical activity to their patients in the run-up to the Grande Marche.
“These are influential people who are doctors who agree to take on the preventive role, who prescribe physical activity or walks to their patients and meet with them at an event.” [planifié] in their calendar,” explains Mr. Lavoie.
The organization expects more than 100,000 hikers to take part in the Grandes Marches across the province this weekend. While the events promote healthy lifestyle habits, they are intended to be festive, while certain marches feature shows.
“If you change your behavior, if you don’t have fun you won’t repeat it. It’s important to enjoy changing our lifestyle,” says Mr. Lavoie.