Skipalong for Hopalong’s Alison Chapot
“It’s a chance to feel like a kid again – young and carefree – and it’s a lot of fun.” -Alison Chapot
When Alison Chapot contacted us with her fun vision for organizing a Skipalong fundraising event for the Hopalong & Second Chance Animal Rescue, of course we jumped at the chance. We hope you’ll enjoy this short interview with Alison, who is the most recent inductee into the Skipping Movement Hall of Fame.
When did you start skipping as an adult? January 1, 2014. I saw a post on Facebook along the lines of “Do you remember how to skip?” and I thought, well sure. So I went outside and started skipping. It was awkward 
at first but it was fun, and being it was January 1, I “resolved” skipping would be my New Year’s resolution.
What was the inspiration behind the Skipalong for Hopalong fundraiser? After skipping in my neighborhood and feeling a bit “silly”, I asked my roommate to join me for that “safety in numbers kind of thing”. She enjoyed it too, so I thought maybe other people might like skipping.
I went online and googled “skipping” and found iSkip.com, and then I found Kim on Facebook. Wow, who knew there’s an entire skipping movement going on! And bingo…I wanted to get a bunch of people together skipping and doing it for charity would be their incentive. Hopalong came to mind and when I said “Skipalong for Hopalong” out loud, I immediately knew it was a perfect match.
What do you most enjoy about skipping? It’s a chance to feel like a kid again – young and carefree – and it’s a lot of fun. It also attracts attention and I don’t shy away from that. People smile at you and it’s very uplifting, plus it’s great exercise. It’s low impact, at least for me, and doesn’t require any special equipment or clothing, except 
maybe good shoes. I don’t work out but I do like to walk and now I incorporate skipping into my walk.
Where is your favorite place to skip? The Embarcadero in San Francisco is my “go to” place on the weekends. It’s flat, plenty of room on the wide sidewalk amongst joggers and walkers, and the scenery is beautiful!
What advice would you offer to someone who is hesitant to start skipping because they are worried about what others might think? I would tell them to just look straight ahead and smile. It actually kind of hard not to smile when skipping; and think about how much fun you’re having, and how much fun people in their cars are NOT having.
Tell us about the Skipalong for Hopalong and how those who want to participate can be a part of it. I teamed up with Kim at iSkip and we worked together with the folks at Hopalong who created a page on their website just for this event. Kim created a Facebook Event Page that we’re sharing with all our friends, and all their friends, etc. Within both is a link to an online site where people can register for the event. Even if they don’t live in the area or unavailable that day but still want to help, they can make a donation online and still be part of the Skipalong.
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