UAF Spring 2012 Fittest Winner Competition

February 15, 2012

Marmian Grimes

In an effort to help create a healthier campus community -- and to have a little fun at the same time -- I am pleased to announce the formation of the UAF Spring 2012 Fittest Winner Competition.

Here's how it works. Teams from across campus will compete against each other for a 10-week period beginning Feb. 27 to see which team can exercise the most and lose the most weight. Unlike similar competitions, this one places an emphasis on exercise, so minutes of exercise will count for 80 percent of the score and weight loss for 20 percent. Each team will assign a team captain to be responsible for keeping track of their team's exercise minutes and weight loss and for submitting that information on a weekly basis to the competition coordinators, Derek Miller and Kris Racina.

The team captain is the only one who will know individual statistics; overall team information is all the participants will see. Each member of the winning team will receive a prepaid $100 Visa gift card -- with encouragement to spend it on something fitness or health related.

More information on the competition can be found at www.uaf.edu/chancellor/fitness/. In addition, UAF HR will be hosting an open forum Monday, Feb. 20 from noon -1 p.m. in Wood Center Conference Room C/D. The forum will be available via audio conference for rural campuses participation.

In tandem with this competition, Fairbanks Memorial Hospital CEO and UA Regent Mike Powers and myself will be individually competing against each other. We're planning a similar competition between employees at UAF and employees at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital.

It’s no secret the benefits exercise has in our individual lives in terms of positive self esteem, combating diseases such as heart disease, improving mental health, and much more. It's my hope that this competition will lead to personal satisfaction for all that participate. Let the games begin!