Walktober 2023
Birdshot Uveitis Society of North America recently sponsored its second annual Walktober Challenge. The goal of the event was to encourage fitness among those in our birdshot uveitis community. Birdshot uveitis is a rare autoimmune disease of the eye.
Over two dozen “birdies” in the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom walked or jogged outside during the month of October. The BUSNA website featured videos with walking tips to support our participants. Several people found them helpful. Walktober 2023 saw a marked increase in the number of walkers, compared to last year’s event.
Participants submitted their weekly tallies each Saturday. A special thank you to BUSNA board members Andrea Munk and Mari Schlorff who held live drawings on Facebook. Weekly prizes included Amazon and Dick’s Sporting Goods gift certificates. Those who logged their miles every week were eligible for the grand prize of a Fitbit. All prizes had been donated by birdshot friends.
Congrats to winners, Martie, Janet, Shay and Anita, and to all birdies who walked or jogged so many miles, kilometers and steps!!
A number of participants emailed BUSNA saying how they appreciated the experience for encouraging fitness. Barrie wrote that he “certainly found it worthwhile and will participate next year,” and Sheree shared that she “appreciated the walking-tip videos posted on social media and even invested in Nordic walking poles.”
Martie said she was very happy to win the grand prize and said that she needed a new Fitbit. She added that it’s beautiful and it reminds her of her birdshot friends! Sam suggested we keep track of the total miles for all participants next year, and Anita would love birdies to submit ideas for next year.
We at BUSNA love these comments and ideas. Let’s make next year’s walk grow even bigger. Whether or not you joined us this year or last, consider putting Walktober on your calendar in 2024!