A month-long program that encourages Syracuse University community members to exercise is growing in popularity with an increase of about 75 participants this year.

Walktober held its kick-off event Monday afternoon on the Quad. More 450 SU students, faculty and staff have registered for the program this year, an increase from last year’s total of 375. The goal of Walktober is to encourage the SU community to exercise and track the distance they’ve walked or jogged during the next month.

“Walktober is a great way to enjoy the beautiful month of October here,” said Tim Smilnak, one of the event organizers and a first year masters student in public health. “It also generates a really nice sense of community. It’s a great way to exercise, enjoy the scenery and enjoy doing it in the company of others.”

The sense of community was evident on Monday as more than 100 people showed up to the Quad over the course of three hours to officially sign up and receive pedometers.

While Monday’s kick-off mile walk only had around 30 participants, mostly consisting of faculty and staff, Smilnak said the number of people registered for the program is a good sign.

“We’re definitely very happy with the turnout so far especially with both faculty, staff and students,” he said. “There seems to be a lot of enthusiasm among the people especially those registered as a team. People are really looking forward to getting out and walking together.”

Although many signed up as individuals, over 40 teams consisting of faculty, staff and students were registered at the time of the event’s kick off. Each team is judged by the average amount of miles each member of the team walks. A catered lunch is served at the end of the month to the teams that come in first, second and third.

“People like to sign up as a team just because it helps generate a sense of community, and it gives you other people to walk with. A lot of SU employees like to walk together during their lunch break,” Smilnak said.

Changes to this year’s Walktober include an additional group walk as well as an Instagram photo contest for students. For the contest, students take pictures from their walks while posing with a bumper sticker given to them during sign-up. They then post the pictures with the hashtag #WALKTOBERSU and people can vote for a winner each week. The person with the most likes on their photo will receive a prize.

Meredith Jeffers, a senior English major and first time participant, said she felt Walktober was a great way to get people together. She said the weather and being outdoors makes the event more enticing, and it’s a way to meet new people.

Jeffers added that having organized events helps people exercise and stay motivated while at school.

“If you think about it, we walk a lot anyway and now seeing numbers (on the pedometer) is motivating to walk even more as you see the numbers go up,” Jeffers said.

Other students echoed the idea that Walktober can be used as a motivational tool.

Kris Murray, a senior biochemistry major, signed up for his first time this year as part of a team. He said he has personally been trying to run and walk more, so Walktober served as a good way to follow through on that. In addition, Murray said the event can be useful in encouraging everyone to live healthier lives.

Said Murray: “I think it’s important because everyone should make a concerted effort to be healthy and take care of themselves.”

Published on September 30, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Michael: mpassala@syr.edu