![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20080916011909im_/http://ncmhd.nih.gov/images/take_a_hike_10.JPG) NCMHD Director Dr. John Ruffin gave a warm send off to NCMHD staffers who participated in the NIH’s first annual Take a Hike Day event. In all a dozen walkers from NCMHD joined almost 2000 other NIH’ers from virtually all of the Institutes, Centers, and Offices who took time off for fitness, walking the 2.8 mile perimeter of the NIH campus.
The NIH Office of Management in partnership with the Office of Research Services, Division of Amenities and Transportation Services and the NIH Clinical Center organized the event as part of the 2008 National President’s Challenge and the Healthier Feds
Initiative.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20080916011909im_/http://ncmhd.nih.gov/images/take_a_hike_9.JPG) It was fun,” said Lucia Biederman longtime program analyst for NCMHD. “We got to meet new colleagues and maybe we even lost a few pounds.”
The walkers were reminded that Confucius says, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. No matter how far they went, the ultimate goal was to begin or continue a regular habit of physical activity and create a foundation for long-term behavior changes for a healthier life style.
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