Viking Magazine - February 2020 - 32

Member Matters
Motivation to Move
The Sons of Norway Sports Medal Program rewards members for being active, regardless of
age, fitness level or exercise preference. BY CHRISTINE JOHNSON
Do
you want to increase
your physical activity and
think an incentive would
help push you? Or are you a regular
mover who enjoys a bit of healthy
competition? Either way, the Sons of
Norway's Sports Medal Program might
be the payoff you're looking for.
Taking a cue from the Norwegian
tradition of outdoor recreation
(friluftsliv), the free program encourages
members of all ages and fitness levels to
get consistent exercise and live healthy
lifestyles.
All you have to do is choose one
of the program's five activities, and
the medal you'd like to work toward.
Medals are awarded in the order of
bronze, silver, gold and enamel when
certain achievements are reached in
these categories: walking (gangmerke),
cross-country skiing (skimerke),
bicycling (sykkelmerke), general
fitness (idrettsmerke) and swimming
(svømmemerke).
After that you simply get moving
and track your development on a
record card over the next 365 days.
STAYING ACTIVE TOGETHER
In the 34 years it has been offered,
countless members have benefitted
from the Sports Medal Program. One
is Jeff Hagen, the sports director of
Odin Lodge 2-041 in Yakima, Wash.
The 72-year-old says he played sports
like basketball, baseball, tennis and
golf until the age of 25, at which point
he turned to running as a way to stay
fit and never looked back. Over the
years, Hagen
has competed in
21 marathons
and 115
ultramarathons
(any race longer
than the standard
26.2-mile
marathon), and he
holds American
age 70-74 road
records for
running 110 miles
in 24 hours and
182 miles in 48
hours.
He and his
Jeff Hagen
32 VIKING FEBRUARY 2020
sonsofnorway.com
wife, Joyce, have
been part of the
Sports Medal
Program since 2002. Both stay fit by
hiking, backcountry skiing, mountain
climbing, weight training, bicycling
and more, and have racked up bronze,
silver, gold and enamel medals in all
of the program's categories except
svømmemerke.
" As a fitness advocate, I see the
program as a good way to recognize
members who were already [working
out] regularly, and also to motivate
non-active members to begin an
exercise program, " Hagen says.
HIKING INSPIRES TRAVEL
Such recognition was something
that came to Sandra Bauman Santas,
a resident of Champaign, Ill., and
member of Askeladden Lodge 5-610
in Kalamazoo, Mich. An avid walker
who logs about 4 miles each day, the
76-year-old completed a 387-mile hike
in 2014 as part of Sons of Norway's
In the 34 years it has been
offered, countless members
have benefitted from the
Sports Medal Program.
Virtual Pilgrimage program, which
allows people to log their miles to
" experience " the walk the pilgrims
made along the routes known as St.
Olav's Ways or Old Kings' Road.
The section Santas completed, the
http://www.sonsofnorway.com
Viking Magazine - February 2020

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