The fourth annual Shape Up Cape program held its kickoff at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce on Saturday.

Seventy teams, a total of 420 people, will exercise from now to September, keeping track of points given for various activities.

New features for this year's program are seminars to promote health and wellness. The first seminar, on healthy cooking, will be in June. Seminar topics for July and August have yet to be chosen.

Pastor Mark Martin of St. Andrew's Lutheran Church said he thought they should get a prize for the best team name, Body and Soul. Having been involved in the program for two years, Martin said, "This offers an incentive to keep going. It's still easy to skip a day, but there's more incentive to keep going if you've got teammates you're obligated to."

The Orthopaedic Associates Overachievers have a rival team within the office, the Orthopaedic All-Stars. Tom Weber and Kevin Crawford are the respective captains.

"We were looking for things for employees to do this year to promote fitness," Weber said. "This is an incentive to promote a healthy lifestyle. I was pleasantly surprised that we had no problem recruiting 20 team members. I predicted about 10."

He felt the program had further value because it rewards athletes as well as those who are just starting out. He also supported the seminar idea. "The program itself doesn't address nutrition or healthy lifestyles. I'm going to try to get a class on site for employees," Weber said.

Chamber of commerce community development specialist Nicole Rodriguez repeated three things as team captains passed through chamber doors, One, contest points for this weekend, which could be e-mailed, faxed or phoned in, will be added to the entry log due May 23. Second, seminar attendance counts for five points, an exception to the rule of 15 points maximum per day.

Last, she gave the answer to a commonly asked question: How does the body pump class at Healthpoint Plaza count?

The answer: It counts as aerobics, level three, 10 points for 20 minutes nonstop.

cpagano@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 133