Walktoberfest: 'Start! Moving' on Campus

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 6, 2009) - UK HealthCare and UK Health & Wellness are teaming up with the American Heart Association to help students, faculty and staff take steps toward better health.

The AHA fall Start! Moving campaign at UK begins Wednesday with Walktoberfest, an event to rally the sneaker-clad on campus to join the challenge to fit exercise into each day.

Walktoberfest is scheduled to begin at noon outside the W. T. Young Library with some motivational words from Dr. Alison Bailey, who is an assistant professor of medicine at the UK College of Medicine, a UK Gill Heart Institute cardiologist, and director of Cardiac Rehab for UK HealthCare. After hearing from Dr. Bailey, the group will take a walk on campus. If it rains, festivities will move indoors to the library's Gallery Room. Employees, retirees, and their spouses or sponsored dependents who attend are eligible for prize drawings at the event.

Helen Mosely, a nutritionist with UK Heath & Wellness, says about 200 employees completed the summer challenge, and even more are anticipated to take part this fall in the challenge. "We're encouraging employees to wear their sneakers to work that day--after checking with their supervisor to make sure there are no safety restrictions or other limitations," Mosely said. "We have a beautiful campus for walking, and even if it's only a few minutes every day during a break or lunch, we hope our colleagues can take advantage of this opportunity."

As part of the challenge, employees can use the American Heart Association's online fitness and nutrition tracking tool, MyStart!, which is a confidential way to keep track of how much exercise a person is getting and the amount of calories consumed and burned. To log into MyStart!, visit www.startwalkingnow.org.

The fall 2009 Start! Moving challenge ends Dec. 18.