Tread the Med walking program kicks off Sept. 28

Lace up your walking shoes – Tread the Med, Washington University School of Medicine’s walking program, launches Sept. 28 in Hudlin Park.

Registration for Tread the Med officially opened Sept. 15, but as of Sept. 12, over 1,100 particpants and 84 teams had expressed interest. Tread the Med has a maximum enrollment of 2,000. Those who are interested may register at http://healthyliving.wustl.edu.

On Sept. 28, Tread the Med will kick off at noon at Hudlin Park for the Dean’s Dash, a .51-mile walk around Hudlin Park with Larry J. Shapiro, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, and James P. Crane, MD, associate vice chancellor for clinical affairs. Shapiro will cut a ribbon to mark the start of the program, and Crane will draw the names of two teams who will receive a small gift for each team member.

Tread the Med is open to all School of Medicine employees. To participate, each employee, whether part of a team or an individual, must register via http://healthyliving.wustl.edu using their WUSTL Key. There is a $5 entry, through payroll deduction, to cover the cost of a pedometer and incentives. Tread the Med is sponsored by the School of Medicine Wellness Council and is being managed by the Department of Human Resources.

“We are launching this program because we want to help our employees get healthier and to encourage a healthy habit like walking,” says Gregg Evans, human resources consultant. “The program is designed so that everyone can participate, including walkers, runners and those with disabilities.”

The program’s motto is “Every Step Counts,” which will include every step someone takes throughout the day, not just on a scheduled walk. Walking your dog, going up stairs and walking to meetings across campus all count toward the total, Evans says. Participants will be able to record their steps on a Web site either by number of steps, time or miles walked.

The program’s first 100 days, called Be a Walk Star, has a goal of all participants walking 1 million steps, or the approximate 560-mile distance from the Hard Rock Café in St. Louis to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. There are also incentives for participants at 250,000, 500,000 and 750,000 steps.

Teams or individual participants who reach 1 million steps in 100 days will be entered into a grand-prize drawing for one of two $300 Visa gift cards and one of eight $50 Visa gift cards.

There will be incentives every 10 days through the first 100 day-campaign. Team captains will be asked to nominate a team member every 10 days. Those names will be put into a drawing for one of 10 $50 Visa gift cards.

To learn more about becoming a team captain or for more information, contact Evans at evansg@wustl.edu. To download a map, click here.