Walking competition rewards winners with cars

The two contestants who log the most kilometres at Dubai's Yallah Walk contest will be awarded cars.

DUBAI // The winners of a Dubai contest to encourage people to walk more will be rewarded with… a car.

The Yallah Walk campaign, which starts tomorrow, will award those who walk the furthest distance over the next two weeks at walking tracks in five of the emirate's parks.

There are 12,000 prizes up for grabs, including LCD televisions, BlackBerries, PlayStations, iPads, iPods and four annual memberships to Fitness First gym.

Some 40,000 items will also be given away at the participating parks, such as toys, T-shirts and baseball caps.

But the grand prize, to be awarded to the man and woman who log the most kilometres, is a car. The make and model of the car have not yet been confirmed because organisers are still in talks with various sponsors.

The prizes were announced yesterday by Obaid Salem Al Shamsi, assistant director general of Dubai Municipality, at an event in Zabeel Park, the site of one of the walking tracks.

"This will be one of our most prominent projects," said Mr Al Shamsi, "because it is open to all nationalities and age groups."

Registration opened on March 1 and will continue until March 6 on www.walkingdubai.ae or at participating parks.

After registering, participants are given a badge and a wristband with a barcode that must be scanned at the start and end of each track. This will calculate the distance walked by each participant electronically. A supervisor will be stationed at each scanning stations to ensure walkers do not cheat.

Registered walkers will be able to log on to the website to check how many kilometres they have logged.

The contest starts tomorrow at 5pm on the rubberized track that circles Safa Park.

Besides Safa and Zabeel parks, walkers can also clock up footfall at Al Mamzar Park, Al Khawaneej Walking Track and Al Barsha Park.

Authorities say the aim of the contest is to raise awareness of the emirate's 23 walking tracks.