Want to Get Fit? Walk UCSD Luring New Members by Offering Team Competitions

Ioana Patringenaru | February 19, 2008

Want to spend more time with friends and exercise? UCSD’s recreation department has a program for you. Just form a team and sign up on the Walk UCSD Web site and you will be eligible to win rewards while getting fitter.

Agnes Shin (last on the right) and 10 colleagues are taking part in Walk UCSD's team competition.

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information about the Walk UCSD program.

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information about signing up as a team.

University officials launched Walk UCSD in June 2006 to encourage members of the campus community to lead a more active lifestyle. About 860 faculty and staff members and about 400 students have signed up for the program to date. Officials are trying to get even more to join by offering a friendly competition between walking teams.

“We want to get more people moving,” said Jonna Haupu, coordinator of the Walk UCSD program. “That’s basically what it all comes down to: when you say the word team, your competitive spirit comes out.”

The rules are simple. Find at least four friends who want to join your team and designate a team captain. Sign up for the program online, then go to RIMAC’s equipment room to collect a free pedometer. Participants can log online the number of steps they take each day. Teams whose members have taken 300,000 steps each by June 6 will become eligible for a prize drawing. By the way, steps taken off campus count, Haupu said.

“You can walk anywhere you want,” she said. “You can go to Target, you can go to Wal-Mart.”

Participants have until Feb. 29 to register their team. Agnes Shin and her colleagues didn’t wait that long. Shin, a human resources staff member at the School of Medicine, and 10 others formed their team in early February. “I think it’s a great idea to start promoting a healthier lifestyle for everyone,” she said of the program.

Shin has started walking more since she got a dog and said she logs about 9,000 steps every day. Other team members are even more active. One is a marathon runner and another bikes a lot. Shin and a handful of human resources colleagues also like to hold walking meetings, when they hike up to Sun God or the Snake Path while discussing business. “It’s always fun,” she said. She and her teammates are intrigued by the prize drawing, she added. “It’s nice to work toward that,” she said.