Will Mayor Jonathan Cote be dusting off his gold lamé pants to serve lunch to seniors? Well, that depends on local residents.
The stakes are ramping up for this year’s Walk30 Burnaby/New Westminster walking challenge. Along with bragging rights for the winning community, Cote and Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley are putting their pride, or at least their pants, on the line.
The city with the highest per capita participation in the walking challenge will win the coveted Golden Shoe trophy, but its mayor will also serve a meal to diners at a community group – in wrestling attire.
“We want to see Johnny X back in those gold pants serving our seniors tea,” a spokesperson for Hurley told the Record. “He (Hurley) will also wear wrestling gear – but we don’t think he will need to.”
While Cote had planned to hang up the gold lamé pants he recently donned for his wrestling debut as Johnny X in a Royal City Wrestling match, he’s game for the new twist to the Walk30 challenge.
“I am looking forward to seeing Mayor Hurley in whatever gear they have set up for him. I might even lend him my gold pants,” he said. “I am confident that New West will do very well – please ask New West residents to help me out. Wouldn’t we love to see the mayor of Burnaby serving meals at the Union Gospel Mission in gold lamé pants?”
At last week’s Walk30 launch, Hurley issued a challenge that would see the mayor of the “losing” city having to serve a meal at a location of the other's choosing. If New Westminster wins the community division, Hurley will serve a meal at the Union Gospel Mission in New West, but if Burnaby wins, Cote will serve lunch at South Burnaby Neighbourhood House.
This year is the second time the two cities have competed in the Walk30 Burnaby/New West challenge to promote walking as a convenient form of transportation and to encourage people to rethink how they get around in their communities. The challenge, which includes a schools division and a community division, aims to encourage students and community members to walk 30 minutes a day, which can be split up throughout the day or done at once.
Last year, Burnaby handily won the schools division, while New West won the community division of the Walk30 Challenge Cup. It’s based on a per capita basis because of the difference in population between the two cities.
Between April 8 and May 10, registered participants will track and share their walking minutes online.
For more information or to register for the Walk30 challenge, go to www.walkerscaucus.ca/walk30-burnaby-newwest.
