With fall just around the corner, students are beginning to settle into having bogged-down lives which include trying to fit classes, social life and, let’s not forget, game days into their busy schedules. For many, this means putting exercise at the bottom of their priority list. However, starting this past Monday, September 6, and lasting until Saturday, October 17, students and faculty will be able to participate in a new way to stay active.
The Outdoor Nation Campus Challenge is a nonprofit organization and is responsible for the end goal of inspiring campuses to stay active by seeing which school is able to get the greatest amount of students outside, therefore accumulating points for the University of Alabama.
“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to get involved on campus as well as having the possibility of benefiting the school,” said Dillon Caldwell, a freshman participant.
According to Steven Middleton, manager of the student recreation center on campus, this competition involves a total of 52 schools from all over the country. They will battle for the ultimate title of national champions by documenting and sending in pictures of themselves exercising outdoors to Facebook or Twitter with the hashtag “#outdoornation.”
Students can participate by going to www.oncampuschallenge.org at any time during the two-week period by creating a username, password and the school you attend to which your points will be added. The maximum amount of activities that one can log for a single day is five, each earning ten points a piece for their team.
At the conclusion of the contest, the winning school will get the opportunity to have REI and North Face remodel their recreation shop as well as entering each active individual participant in a drawing to win a YETI cooler.
“I enjoy being active and staying in shape and getting involved with the community, so I’m excited to take part in the outdoor challenge,” said Ryan Pierce, a sophomore competitor.
Every student will also have the possibility of winning a weekly incentive through the outdoor recreation center such as Chacos, North Face and REI attire.
