Plainfield Woman 1 Of 12 Winners In Will Co. Park District Challenge

PLAINFIELD, IL — A Plainfield woman is one of 12 people tied for first place in the Forest Preserve District of Will County's inaugural Take It Outside Challenge.

The district unveiled last January a new challenge to entice locals to get back to nature or discover it for the first time. The 12 winners, including Joanne Nott, were the only ones to complete all 501 nature-themed missions part of the campaign.

More than 1,200 people participated in the challenge to complete about 115,000 total missions, which broke a record for the largest-ever experience hosted on the Goosechase platform, forest preserve officials said.

In some instances, participants had to take photos in a certain spot, answer a trivia question or check in at a trailhead. The winners used the Goosechase app to earn 13,086 points to wind up at the top of the leaderboard.

One first-place winner was not eligible to win because he works for the forest preserve district, and two others are married and, per rules, only share one prize. Thus, officials said the $900 in total prize money is being split 10 ways.

"For many, the Take It Outside challenge was transformational," officials wrote in a news release. "Stories poured in all year long about how the missions were getting people to walk more than they had in years, lose weight, discover Will County's preserves, kayak for the first time, spend quality time with family, feel better mentally and physically and make new friends."

The forest preserve district is relaunching the Take It Outside challenge for 2024. It's set to launch later in January.