After 4 consecutive semesters of participating in the University of Delaware’s Employee Health & Wellbeing Virtual Couch to 5K Accountability Group, 8 UD employees and retirees came together to celebrate their progress at the Blue Hens Homecoming 5k. The 5k was the first in-person UD sponsored run/walk event in 2 years.

Every fall and spring semester since April 2020, EHW has hosted the 8-week virtual training program using the C25k 5k trainer app as a running guide for beginner & intermediate runners. Participants typically do 3 running and walking workouts a week. The group used Microsoft Teams and Zoom to connect and check in on one another’s progress.

“I never thought running would become my retirement activity, but I am actually starting to enjoy running. I love this program because the team accountability and support motivated me to keep trying,” participant Crystal Maccari said.

By the Blue Hens Homecoming 5k race on October 20, 2021, the 8 runners accomplished their goal of running 3.1+ miles with some of them also hitting personal records and other milestones on the way.

According to Maccari, her “5K [time] in June was 41:36; in July, 39:33; in early October 38:04; and the Homecoming 5K was 37:33,” placing her in 4th place of her age group.

One runner who went above and beyond was Tiffany Probasco, who on October 24, 2021, completed the Columbia Gorge Full Marathon. “The training was really tough, but I made a plan with assistance from the Exercise Counseling Clinic and accomplished this massive achievement only 2 years after I had ever begun running,” said Probasco.

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For further information, please visit: https://sites.udel.edu/wellbeing/