Over 400 students attended the first annual Get Fit, Stay Fit Fair last weekend in the Markin Center.
“The Fit Fair was an idea that was sparked at the beginning of this school year by a planning committee including Campus Recreation, Wellness, Dining Services and the Center for Learning Assistance,” said Wellness Graduate Assistant Jessica Revord. “The fair was an idea to kick off the new semester of the program.”
Revord said Get Fit, Stay Fit is a free program open to students, faculty and staff. It is driven by a point system in which participants receive awards, thus self-motivating them to get fit. Points were given out to the participants who attended the fair.
“The idea of the fair was to offer knowledge in different areas of health and wellness, and offer students on campus and off campus resources,” Revord said. “I wanted students to take away knowledge that they did not know before entering the fair.”
Booths set up at the fair included group fitness classes, personal trainers, the Bradley Physical Therapy program, chiropractic services and information about exercise, hydration, calcium and iron. Running Central, the main sponsor of the fair, was also present.
“The purpose of [our booth] is to educate people about proper fitting [of shoes and clothing] for working out,” said Maggie Butterfield of Running Central.
Senior dietetic majors Alyssa Doerr, Danielle Glascott and Jennifer Porto’s booth provided information about National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. The booth explained the negativity of photoshopped images in the media.
“You shouldn’t aim to be thin,” said Glascott. “Aim to be healthy.”
The booth also included a board where participants wrote something positive about themselves.
“It’s important to focus on a healthy image,” said Porto.
One incentive to attend was the prizes raffled off both days.
“Over 375 people participated to win big prizes such as a $200 prize package from Running Central, eight personal training sessions, a $100 Visa gift card, a Wii and Wii Fit and much more,” said Revord.
She said that the fair drew in a great number of people for its first year.
“For the first annual fair, I think it was a huge success,” she said. “We had over 450 participants come through.”
Students said the fair was educational.
“It was really informative,” said freshman nursing major Emily Maybach. “It teaches you a lot of healthy tips.”
Freshman biology major Dana Sautter said she attended both days of the fair.
“It was a really cool event,” she said. “It gives you a lot of healthy information, and there were lots of free samples. I came back [after Friday afternoon], so it was definitely good.”
Revord said that the success of the fair will help it become an annual event at Bradley.
“I would say we have the start to a really great tradition here,” she said. “The event could not have gone over as well as it did without the help from all the student volunteers, on campus departments, organizations, Wellness Office, Campus Recreation, Eurest Dining, Dietetics and so much more.”