By Erin Shea

Lexington was on the move to become healthier as it held its second annual Second Sunday event downtown on Main and Short streets.

The event was a “day of exploration,” said Diana Doggett, Kentucky Second Sunday Coordinator and Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agent for Fayette County.

“It is a challenge to everyone to get out there and be active,” Doggett said.  “Our state is sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

Second Sunday is a non-profit, statewide-organized movement, encouraging Kentucky residents to make a change to a healthier lifestyle. All over Kentucky, communities are shutting down streets for bike rides, walks, and other physical activities.

Activities included group exercise, senior physical activities, spinning classes, dancing, bike polo, basketball, volleyball, street tennis, martial arts and yoga.  Second Sunday provided children’s play areas and organized walks and bike rides.

These activities were sponsored by 75 different organizations; all the money went to pay for the closing down of the streets downtown.  The event’s main sponsors included UK HealthCare, the Family and Consumer Science Extension of the School of Human Environmental Sciences and Windstream Communications.

Doggett said Kentucky is the first state in the U.S. to hold an event similar to Second Sunday. Fifty Kentucky counties were involved last year, including approximately 12,000 people statewide. This year, 103 counties were involved, though participation was expected to be much higher.

Doggett said more Second Sundays in Lexington will continue in the future.  More local businesses have promised they will pay for police escorts for safety for bike riders around town.

Dr. Richard Lofgren, vice president of health care operations for UK HealthCare said the great thing about Second Sunday is people can come out and experience different kinds of exercise, and see what interests them and what they would like to continue doing.

“This is the sickest group of people I have ever met, and behavioral changes could easily make these people healthier,” Lofgren said.

Although Second Sunday was a community event, Lofgren said the university, especially UK HealthCare, will act as a catalyst to promote the event to the community.

“We hope people will be excited about this, and that the state of Kentucky is seen as a leader in making a change to healthier lifestyles,” Lofgren said.