Colonial Community - Your Life @ GW

Join the Start! Walking Challenge today!

Colonial Community is proud to partner with the American Heart Association’s Start! Campaign, a physical activity initiative to fight heart disease and stroke by getting people to move, through workplace walking programs. Participating in this program can significantly improve your health.

According to a Harvard University Study, you will gain about two hours of life expectancy for each hour of regular exercise, even if you don't start until middle age.

Brisk walking for as little as 30 minutes a day can bring heart-health benefits and reduce your risk for stroke by lowering bad cholesterol (LDL) levels and high blood pressure.

Current Program Details

Click Here to see our list of team and individual competitors

Looking for answers to your Start! Walking Challenge questions
Check out our FAQ page

Walking Challenge Details

Goal

Walk or run a minimum of 52.5 miles between May 4 and June 28 (8 weeks)

Why 52.5 miles?

1. By walking just 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week (as recommended by the American Heart Association), you'll reach 52.5 miles in 7 weeks. So we've given you an extra week to reach the goal.

2. 52.5 miles is the roundtrip distance between GW's three main campuses - Foggy Bottom, Mount Vernon, and Virginia!

Individual or Team?

You can choose to walk as an individual or as part of a team of five. In addition to individual prizes, teams will be eligible to compete for special team-only prizes. Being part of a team is not only fun, but it’s a great way to improve individual motivation and help everyone on the team reach their 52.5 mile goal.

Prizes

Prizes will be based on the total number of walking/running steps taken during the Challenge period. While you are encouraged to track other exercises through the MyStart! Online Tracker, only walking/running steps will be counted for the purpose of determining the main prizes.

Team prizes will be based on the highest average number of walking/running steps for the team. So it's important that you encourage your teammates to walk as well!

We will award one additional prize to the individual with the highest total exercise time, regardless of the type of exercise. This is to recognize all the other activities you may do as part of your fitness routine. So make sure you log everything.

Individual with Most Walking/Running Steps
Polar FS1 Heart Rate Monitor + your choice of one of the “Top 5 Individual Runners Up” prizes listed below

Team with Highest Average Walking/Running Steps
Catered lunch for team

Top 5 Individual Runners Up
Omron HJ-112 Digital Premium Pedometer
OR
Dr. Scholl's Toe-Touch Foot Spa with Massage

Top 1 Team Runner Up
Continental breakfast for team

All individuals completing the Challenge goal
Start! shoe wallet and lapel pin

To sign up, CLICK HERE

Registration Deadline

Friday, May 1, 2009

Check out our FAQ page for more information on the program.

For questions or comments regarding this or any of Colonial Community's programs, please contact Colonial Community at yourlife@gwu.edu or 202-994-0077.