By
Health-minded Boston College employees came together earlier this summer at the Flynn Recreation Complex to celebrate the conclusion of another successful Walk Across Campus (WAC), the University’s popular fitness program.
The spring semester WAC, which ran from April 1-May 31, drew more than 1,400 administrators, faculty and staff on more than 90 teams. WAC began as an individual event several years ago through Campus Recreation and in the fall of 2012 was incorporated into HEALTHY YOU, BC’s health-and-wellness campaign. Participants, who each receive a Fitbit pedometer to track their progress, form teams to provide one another with support and encouragement.
“Walk Across Campus has exceeded our expectations for the way in which it’s engaged our community,” said Acting Vice President for Human Resources Robert Lewis, pointing to the increase in registration from the 2013 spring WAC (about 1,200 participants, 67 teams). “BC has embraced it in a big way. WAC has built friendship and camaraderie while fostering healthy habits.”
Lewis noted that spring WAC participants had collectively taken 587,046,254 steps, racking up 263,251 miles (more than 10,000 times the distance of the Boston Marathon) and 16.5 million active minutes in the process – according to the American Heart Association, adults may gain as many as two hours of life expectancy for every hour of regular vigorous exercise.
At the June 13 WAC celebration, which featured food, snacks and games, “CSON Insane” – one of four teams comprised of Connell School of Nursing employees – was announced as the top finisher among teams, having amassed more than 12.2 million steps and 5,879 miles. The individual winner was Lead Carpenter Giovanni Buonopane of Conte Force Team, who had the most steps (3,264,628), total miles (1,491) and active minutes (53,701). Both also were the top finishers in the fall 2013 WAC.
CSON Insane represents a more fervent approach to WAC. Members must commit to meeting the team’s minimum daily step requirement of 15,000 – compared to the AHA benchmark of 10,000 – and can expect to hear from teammates if there’s any slacking. But the team’s members say the investment of time and effort is worth it, not only for the exercise, but the sense of accomplishment and good-natured competition WAC engenders among BC colleagues (teams from Facilities were identified as particularly stalwart adversaries).
“Walk Across Campus honestly changed my whole way of working,” said Clinical Associate Professor M. Colleen Simonelli, the team’s acknowledged leader and guiding light. “Instead of just phoning or e-mailing someone, I’d walk to where they were. Or a bunch of us would hold walking meetings. It’s been so good for the Connell School community, which has always been a caring, nurturing kind of place – but now so even more.”
Lewis said that future plans for the program include encouraging WAC participants to join in charitable events like the Race to Educate benefit for St. Columbkille Partnership School.
“It would be great to see a whole contingent of BC people doing Race to Educate, or Walk for Hunger, or other such events,” he said. “That’s taking the Walk Across Campus concept beyond Boston College, strengthening our ties to the greater community.”
Information on Walk Across Campus and HEALTHY YOU is available at www.bc.edu/healthy-you.