Moving for a Movement

If you walked through Talley anytime between classes on Thursday, Jan. 11 during Winter Welcome Week, you were met with quite an arrangement in the atrium of the building. Nested by the main staircase were large speakers blasting upbeat music, a bold information table with people giving away goodies, and two large sustainable treadmills. Only a grand cause could get so many people to work out in front of hundreds of strangers passing by. The cause was University Recreation’s new initiative called Move30. This movement encourages everyone on campus to move at least 30 minutes everyday. To launch the event, University Recreation lined up a full day’s worth of activity allowing the campus community to run, or walk, on the self-powered treadmills alongside some esteemed NC State leaders to include Dean and Vice Chancellor of Academic and Student Affairs, Dr. Mike Mullen and Executive Director of Wellness and Recreation, Eric Hawkes.

The Move30 initiative was created to promote the health benefits of adding a small amount of activity in your day. The campaign showed the simplicity behind how you too can accomplish 30 minutes of physical activity each day. The goal of the event was to have 30 people keep the human-powered treadmills going for 15 hours through 30-minute intervals. One treadmill was set up for a faculty or staff member and the parallel treadmill was reserved for willing participants of the NC State community to run or walk alongside them. Over the course of 15 hours, 130 NC State students, faculty and staff ran on the self-powering treadmills. Together we ran and walked over 106 miles and burned more than 10,000 calories.

Faculty and staff are excited to commit to Move30. “It is important for visible leadership at the university to model what we say is important. Certainly at the Division of Academic and Student Affairs (DASA) we try to tell folks that health and wellness and staying fit are important parts of the academic experience,” says Vice Chancellor and Dean of DASA, Dr. Mike Mullen. Your physical fitness even adds to your academic success. Research has shown that students who exercise seven days a week have a 0.04 higher GPA than those who do not. As a fellow student, 0.04 boost goes a long way. Part of University Recreation’s mission is to enhance the culture of wellness to contribute to student success. We want to encourage you to be active each day and Move30.