Vol. 18, No. 30	May 6, 1999

Campus features many routes for your walk to wellness

T reading from Smith Hall to the South Mall can be an exhausting experience, but the University Wellness Center is encouraging employees to follow these brick paths to better health and possibly prizes in its second annual spring Walking Program, "Walk Here... Fly There."

The center is sponsoring the 10-week program, which began March 21 and ends May 15, for employees. To make it easier to track their progress, graduate student Allison Ahrens measured distances between different places on campus.

Aherns did the footwork herself and says it should help the 430 participants, who registered for this year's program. She borrowed a walking pedometer and used her car odometer for some of the mileage to track several distances.

"The mileage will help the employees to reach the walking goals that they are working toward," she said. "If the employees know how far they are walking, they can keep a better log of how much they are accomplishing."

Some of the paths that can be taken are:

• From Main Street, through campus, to the Student Health Center in Laurel Hall = 0.6 mile;
• From Main Street to the Morris Library = 0.4 mile;
• From the corner of South College and Amstel Avenue (at Smith Hall), take a left on Orchard Road (Amy DuPont parking lot), head down to Sunset Road (take another left), back onto South College and back to Smith Hall = 1 mile;
• Making a loop starting from the Student Services Building on Lovett Avenue, take a right onto Academy Street (walking by Pearson Hall), take a right onto Delaware Avenue, and a right onto Haines Street and back to the Student Services Building = 0.7 mile;
• Starting at the corner of Wyoming Road and South Chapel Street (General Services building), walk to Rt. 72 (College Square Shopping Center), make a left and walk toward Delaware Avenue, take a left down Delaware Avenue to South Chapel Street (take a left) and walk back to Wyoming Road = 1.7 miles;
• Begin at the Perkins Student Center, make a right onto Lovett Avenue, walk to South Chapel Street and make a right, walk down South Chapel Street to Courtney Street and make a right and walk back to Academy Street, make a right back to the Perkins Student Center = 1.3 miles;
• The perimeter of Harrington Beach (behind Perkins Student Center/East Campus) = 0.3 mile;
• From the light at the intersection of South College Avenue and Park Place over the bridge to the Delaware Field House = 0.7 mile; and
• Making a loop from any point at the business district on Main Street, make a left onto South College Avenue and then a left on to Delaware Avenue, walk down Academy and take a left back up to Main Street to the starting point = 0.6 mile.

The highest achievers in the program are trying to reach 10 miles per week, Ahrens said. The tiered achievement system translates into prizes for the walkers: 10 miles a week receives a T-shirt and goes into a drawing to win a travel voucher to anywhere in the U.S., eight miles a week wins a fanny pack; six miles a week qualifies the walker for a Wellness mug; and four miles a week wins 1998's walking T-shirt. The grand prize is provided in part by Ambassador Travel with the Employee Wellness Center.

Marianne Carter, nutrition and dietetics, said last year there was only a grand prize, which left some employees discouraged if they could not achieve 10 miles each week.

"We found that last year there were some employees who were sick one week or busy another," Carter said.

"They couldn't get up to the 10 miles per week, so this year we added a lot of different categories and we have a lot of feedback. People are pleased with the changes."

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