KEEN Recess Revolution May 26, 2011

KEEN is kicking off the Recess Revolution Tour on Thursday, May 26, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Director Park at SW Yamhill and Park Avenue.

The day of play in Portland will feature fun ways to enjoy a short break, including a sea of tetherball courts covering Director Park, and a Recess Pledge Station where recess revelers can make a personal Recess Pledge and receive a complimentary gift to help inspire play like KEEN shoes or socks.

Anyone and everyone is invited to escape for recess. Downtown businesses will be invited to have their employees pledge to take recess. For those who don’t work near Director Park, pedicabs will be offering folks free rides to the recess event. Plus, KEEN will set pop-up tetherball courts in various locations around the city.

By bringing recess back, KEEN hopes to both inspire and enable people to escape from the daily grind for a moment (or for a day or a week), to connect to the outdoors, and to create their own playground.

Numerous studies tout the benefits of physical activity and spending time outdoors. For example, recent studies in the workplace conducted by Dr. Toni Yancey, author of Instant Recess and co-director of the Center for Health Equity and professor of health services at UCLA, and her colleagues show that taking short activity breaks during the workday, the time KEEN refers to as recess, is great for an individual’s health and well-being.

“Short bouts of physical activity can lead to an entire range of health benefits from lifting mood, helping prevent or control depression, to improving productivity, partly through changes to our cognitive processing,” Yancey said. “It helps prevent cardiovascular disease and diabetes. It helps to control our weight. Really, there almost nothing that it doesn’t improve.”

With the Recess Revolution, KEEN hopes to inspire 20,000 people to take the Recess Pledge to commit to take a break outdoors regularly. For more information, visit keenfootwear.com/recess. Ready, set, play!