Expanding Active U from eight to 10 weeks proved a success, motivating more than 9,400 participants to log three million more activity minutes than last year for a total of more than 15.5 million minutes.
“Most of those who join have participated all four years and see Active U as a starting point for a healthier new year, a support system to keep moving, or a way to challenge themselves and boost fitness goals,” says LaVaughn Palma-Davis, senior director of Health and Well-Being Services. “To keep people coming back every year, we are always looking at ways to keep it fresh and get people excited about physical activity.”
To encourage friendly rivalry, this year’s program asked teams to pick from among 11 divisions, allowing them to choose their competition regardless of team size. Team standings were then based on average activity minutes per member.
Division winners include 2 Hot FAUMF (Wolverines division), Hammer Strength (Varsity and Coliseum division), Hard Core Four + 1 (Wolves division), Heavenly Bodies and Team Ibuprofen (tied) (Union and the Fieldhouse division), Let’s Stay Active: Dean’s Office (The Diag and Crisler division), neck&neck (The Rock and Yost division), Phat RD’s (Blue division), Power Curls (Victors and Elbel division), Press On! (The Big House division), Profee Determinators (Go Blue division), and The aMAISing Investment Engine That Could (Maize division).
Five grand-prize winners also were randomly chosen in a drawing for cash prizes ranging from $100 to $500. Grand-prize winners include Toni Guzzardo ($500), Leila Lynch ($250), Cynthia Schoen ($250), Cecilia Cline ($100), and Srikanth Patury ($100).
Benefiting from Active U’s strong following are five local charities chosen by one team and one individual representing each university campus. Each charity will receive a portion of the nearly $17,000 donated by participants.
From Ann Arbor, Team MIPS chose the U-M Emergency Hardship Program and Eric Pinaud chose Migrant Health Promotion. From Dearborn, Team Mathletes chose U-M Dearborn Mathematics Department Scholarship Fund and Anna Vince chose the U-M Emergency Hardship Program. From Flint, Team Total Rec chose the Flint Public Library, and Laura Friesen-Lynn chose YWCA Domestic Violence Safehouse.
Colleen Greene, MHealthy wellness coordinator, says although Active U has ended, the online tracker and other resources are available year-round on the MHealthy Web site, www.mhealthy.umich.edu.
