Healthy frozen treat

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This article was published 16/01/2020 (1560 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg health researchers have found a way to lure people outside to exercise in eyelash-freezing temperatures, but their method will prove unsuccessful this season if the city’s river trails remain closed.

“It’s really, really challenging to get people to be active,” said Jon McGavock, a researcher at the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, who co-authored a recent report on the impact frozen waterways have on winter activity.

That’s especially the case in the winter months, when staying indoors seems more appealing than bracing, blustery winds. McGavock said researchers have long tried to find ways to boost peoples’ infrequent physical exercise routines, from paying people to exercise to creating activity groups to encourage participation.

In winter cities, the trick could be clearing off frozen waterways to create trails for residents and visitors, says a Winnipeg-based study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

In partnership with The Forks and Winnipeg Trails Association, researchers used a counter to track the number of visitors to the downtown river trails and surrounding trail network before, during and after the natural skating trail seasons in 2017-18 and 2018-19. What they found was that people turned out in droves to participate in outdoor, blood-pumping activities when the trails were open for people to skate or walk on.

Daily trail network visits increased 400 per cent when the frozen waterway was open, compared to winter days in the four weeks prior to it opening or during the month after it closed.

“Even though the temperature’s the same and everything else at The Forks is the same, the fact that the trail is not there, the visitor rate just drops,” McGavock said. “Just having that trail open quadruples the number of people.”

McGavock noted that the trails drew larger crowds in -30 C temperatures in January, compared to days without the trails, even when it was only -5 C in March. On Louis Riel Day in February, the trails drew crowds he said are comparable to summer days at The Forks.

During the study, researchers also asked visitors about their workout habits and tracked their activity on the trail network with step counters.

Following the holiday season, between 200,000 and 250,000 people visited the trail network when the natural frozen skating trails were open — between 2,000 to 4,500 visitors daily. The river trail is usually open eight to 10 weeks. Last season, it was open for a record 76 days.

The study found the average amount of physical activity among users of the frozen waterway was “sufficient to elicit health benefits.” A total of 37 per cent of trail users achieved the daily target of 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity during a visit.

“What’s really exciting here is… living in a city that has two big rivers going through it, what other opportunities are there for us to replicate this?” McGavock said.

On average, visitors spent 23 minutes getting exercise, and took approximately 4,000 steps.

Anders Swanson of Winnipeg Trails Association called the river trail “a form of medicine.”

“It’s a real success story and real clear proof that people can say whatever they want, but people like to be outside in the winter. If you build the infrastructure, people will come,” Swanson said, adding he thinks the ice trails’ appeal is how beautiful they are and their family friendly nature.

The study results came as no real surprise to Larissa Peck, manager of marketing and communications at The Forks.

“We see people using it for their daily commute, or regular exercise routine, even tracking kilometres skated, biked or walked on social media,” she said in an email, adding being an “all-season gathering and recreational place” was written into the The Forks’ mission statement in 1988.

“The results of this study show another really positive impact the trail can have – it is truly beloved and an amenity we will always strive to work within the conditions to build for our community.”

The Forks has lengthened its on-land trails to more than 1.5 kilometres this season, in response to the uncertainty surrounding the river trails — the result of unprecedented autumn river levels.

Nevertheless, Swanson said winter activity in the city will take a significant hit as a result of the frozen waterways not opening.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie