St. Patrick's Day 5K in Nashville

On Sunday, March 17th, Tennessee: Get Up & Go! creator, Madison Hardy, volunteered as a race facilitator for the St. Patrick's Day 5K/10K in Nashville.

Madison with a supporter prior to the race

The race, managed by iRunForTheParty Race Management, was a great success, bringing out over 1,000 runners to compete in both 5K and 10K distances.

Madison teamed up with Team in Training (TN) at a water station to give water to thirsty runners on the course at the 2.0 mile and 5.6 mile points.

Madison with Team in Training

It was a great inspiration to see racers, young and old, running their hearts out on such a festive day. For more information on Sunday's race, and future races in the Nashville area, check out www.irunfortheparty.com

For more information on Team in Training, visit www.teamintraining.org/tn

Tennessee Obesity Taskforce & American Heart Association "Day on the Hill"

On Wednesday, March 13th, the Tennessee Obesity Taskforce and the American Heart Association of Tennessee teamed up for a "Day on the Hill." Advocates and members of both organizations converged on the Legislative Plaza in Tennessee's state capitol to lobby for increased legislation that will help alleviate the obesity epidemic in Tennessee.

Throughout the day's events, Tennessee Obesity Taskforce and American Heart Association members advocated for greater governmental support of the following:

1. Coordinated School Health
• Program that encourages healthy lifestyles, helps reduce the prevalence of health problems, supports at-risk students, and increases academic excellence for Tennessee students
• Has been recognized by the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) as a national model of excellence
2. Food Deserts
• Nearly one million Tennesseans live in communities with little or no access to fresh, healthy foods
• Funding needed to reduce the size of these areas, while creating jobs and revenue for these communities
3. Community Gardens
• Students who receive nutrition education along with a garden experience increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables
• Gardens enhance community access to fresh fruit and vegetables in food deserts
4. Physical Activity/Physical Education
• One-third of Tennessee students are overweight or obese
• School-based physical activity can improve grades, standardized test scores, cognitive skills, concentration, and attention
• Policy changes needed to increase opportunities for physical activity and enhanced physical education in all school systems

One of the day's highlights included a walk through downtown Nashville, demonstrating the challenges that urban dwellers face when trying to find fresh food options. This became known as a "food desert walk" and was led by Representative Craig Fitzhugh.

Advocates had one-on-one meetings with their Senators and Representatives and attended meetings of the Senate Committee on Governmental Operations, the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare, and the House Health Committee.

TN: Get Up & Go! creator Madison Hardy with Senator Thelma Harper & Mountain Lakes' OT, Alex Wallace

Tennessee: Get Up & Go! creator, Madison Hardy, had the opportunity to address one of the committee meetings, giving a brief explanation of the initiative and who she was representing that day.

Attendees also passed out heart-healthy lunches to the offices of Tennessee Senators, while advocating for legislation supporting greater access to fresh foods for all Tennesseans.

Let's Move! Meetup - Percy Warner Hike (Nashville, TN)

On Sunday, March 10th, Tennessee: Get Up & Go! hosted a Let's Move! Meetup event at Percy Warner Park in Nashville, TN. The event brought out people of all ages and walks of life to enjoy the great outdoors by hiking one of the park's beautiful trails.

More about Let's Move! and Let's Move! Meetups:

Let’s Move! is a comprehensive initiative, launched by the First Lady, dedicated to solving the problem of obesity within a generation, so that children born today will grow up healthier and able to pursue their dreams. Combining comprehensive strategies with common sense, Let’s Move! is about putting children on the path to a healthy future during their earliest months and years. Giving parents helpful information and fostering environments that support healthy choices. Providing healthier foods in our schools. Ensuring that every family has access to healthy, affordable food. And, helping children become more physically active. Let's Move! Meetups spark face-to-face meetings and activities to find local solutions.

Nashville B-Cycle BikeShare Program

I first learned about the Nashville B-Cycle Program when my employer brought General Manager Keith Rawls in one day to discuss the program with us and show off one of the bikes. These things look like something out of a Charlie Brown cartoon!

All joking aside, the Nashville B-Cycle Program truly is a great asset to the Nashville community. Currently, there are 20 kiosks within metro Nashville and a network of 190 brand-new and continually maintenanced candy-apple red bicycles. Memberships are affordable, with daily, weekly, monthly, or annual rates, and riding is free for the first hour of a checked out bike.  For more information and to sign up, visit any kiosk or check out nashville.bcycle.com.

Nashville B-Cycle Kiosk Location Map

The best part about this is, with so many kiosks in a relatively small area, you can check out a bike at location A, 30 minutes later check it in at location B, check out a different bike at B and after 47 minutes check it in at location C, etc. and you'll never get charged a penny for time overages. This is a bike SHARE program, not a rental program.


Spring Kick-Off Event

On March 8, 2013, Nashville B-Cycle held a Spring Kick-Off event, with Mayor Karl Dean presiding.

Mayor Karl Dean at the Nashville B-Cycle Spring Kickoff Event

It was awesome to see so many enthusiastic Nashvillians out supporting such a great new program.

After talking with other guests and organizers of the event, I purchased my annual membership at a nice discount (love the savings!) just in time for the warmer weather...

My friend Elisabeth Oliphint, Miss Music City 2013, joined me for this event, and we had a great time meeting and talking with fellow enthusiasts and riding up and down the streets of downtown Nashville...

Trying It Out - Centennial Park to Hillsboro Village

On Saturday, March 9, 2013 I decided to try out my brand-new Nashville B-Cycle membership and take a spin around Centennial Park. The check-out process was almost effortless, and in a matter of seconds, I was up and going. It was a fabulously gorgeous day, so of course I knew an hour of riding would not be enough to whet my appetite, so after about 55 minutes, I checked in my original bike at the 21st Ave & Wedgewood location, had some coffee and a snack at Fido, and then checked out a different one (at the same kiosk) and rode it back over to the kiosk at Centennial Park. Boom! No extra fees.

Here's a quick little video montage of our adventures:
http://vine.co/v/bwJXdhaT1tD

About Madison

Growing up, it was no secret that Madison Hardy's two great loves were music & food. By age fourteen, she had performed all over the world, but it was after reviewing pictures from a singing trip to Europe that Madison decided that she had had enough of being the "bigger girl."

That fall, she joined world-renowned Weight Watchers, and after 4 months of consistently attending meetings, weigh-ins, and following the "plan," Madison had lost 35 pounds and felt better than ever.

The onset of high school brought many opportunities her way. Serving as Neshoba County's Junior Miss and becoming a top ten finalist at Mississippi's Junior Miss in 2006 really was a dream come true for Madison, one that may not have become a reality had she still been overweight.

In 2007, Madison graduated Valedictorian & S.T.A.R. student of her high school class, and made the move to attend Belmont University and pursue a degree in Music Business. There, she joined Phi Mu sorority and began taking classes and interning.

She became Belmont's Homecoming Queen as a Junior,

Worked the red carpet at the Grammy's,

and was invited to perform in Belmont's Country Showcase her senior year.

 






However, college is a challenging time for a lot of students, and Madison was no exception. Although she was doing just fine academically, it was the late-night eating and lack of regard for her health that proved to be detrimental. By the time she graduated in 2011, Madison had gained over 50 pounds from her first day of Freshman year at Belmont.








Upon graduation, Madison decided to join a 16-week half-marathon training program with her best college friend, Lacy, and their awesome trainer Christin.

That experience was both enlightening and maddening. Madison expected to lose a lot of weight through training for the half, but when 3 months went by and nothing had changed, she decided there was more that could be done. Knowing that Weight Watchers had worked for her the first time, Madison re-joined in August 2011 and to-date has lost over 45 pounds.
 

In June 2013, Madison will be competing for the title of Miss Tennessee as Miss Tennessee Soybean Festival. Having the ability to potentially compete for the title of Miss America is a lifetime of hard work & dedication culminating into one life-changing experience for Madison. She knows that none of this would have been possible without the re-dedication to her health that took place in 2011. By working to fight the obesity epidemic here in Tennessee through her platform "Tennessee: Get Up & Go!" Madison wants to promote the idea that being healthy & active is a privilege we should all be proud to take advantage of.