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Hit the road

Posted on | February 3, 2010 | 840 views |

Competition encouraged shared goals, healthy lifestyle

By Adam King

Every day between Sept. 25 and Nov. 23, Dianne Goodrich walked with a purpose.

Instead of e-mailing or phoning colleagues, she would walk to their office to ask a question. She took the stairs instead of the elevator. The 15-minute wait for the Park and Ride to a meeting at the Medical Center was just an obstruction to taking a 15-minute jaunt from her off-site outpatient clinic.

Every chance she got to put one foot in front of the other, Goodrich took it, averaging about 10,000 steps per day (about five miles). You would too if your teammates were counting on you.

Goodrich had joined leader Angela Oliva, a post-transplant patient care specialist, to form Four Blondes and a Doctor and enter the second annual Hit the Road with the Buckeyes challenge, a Your Plan for Health initiative that asked participants to “walk” the distance traveled by the Ohio State football team to away games. While pretty much any physical activity could be converted to “miles,” Goodrich chose to clip on a pedometer.

“Hit the Road encourages healthy activity in a fun, semi-competitive way, and whenever Buckeyes join forces, good things are bound to happen,” said Goodrich, one of three registered nurses on the team including Maria Colter and Irene DeAndero along with the namesake doctor, Elizabeth Davies. “It was fun being part of a team and encouraging each other to track our steps. We also could go for a walk together on break rather than just sit around vegetating.”

The quintet was one of 173 teams that tallied at least 1,985 miles to reach the National Championship level, and in a drawing they were chosen as the grand prize-winning group. They got to sit in President Gordon Gee’s suite at the Schottenstein Center to watch the men’s basketball team take on Minnesota, and each member could choose either a $400 gift certificate to Dick’s Sporting Goods or $400 toward a gym membership.

“I was so surprised that we won; it was so unexpected,” Oliva said. “I was proud of myself for joining and keeping it together. It was a big accomplishment for me.”

Oliva nearly quit midway through the competition when she found out she was pregnant.

“I thought, ‘Oh I am not going to be able to keep up with my teammates,’ and I didn’t want them to feel like I was slacking off,” Oliva said. “But I told myself that I could do it and just continued on. It was great because it kept me very healthy, not just for me but for my baby. I am so glad I changed my mind.”

None of the Four Blondes and a Doctor members went in chasing prizes, though. Colter found Hit the Road to be a motivator at a time when her usual gym workout regimen had reached a slowdown phase. For Davies, it meant 11 years of walking her dog through the streets and ravines of Clintonville would continue unabated.

“We have walked for 11 years because otherwise she takes up the carpet and takes down the wallpaper,” said Davies, who walked 4 ½ miles during weekdays and up to 8 miles per weekend day. “Participation in Hit the Road is fun, though. You’ll be surprised how active you can be.”

That was certainly true for the University Hospital East team that posted the most mileage, WINBUCKS, which tallied 4,794 miles. The five members — including Ashley Brown, Debra Bruce, Gerald Bruce and Leanne Kelly — earned time in a suite at an OSU men’s hockey game. Team leader Narendra Thekdi worked out in the gym to earn his miles and said health is basically wealth.

“Everyone should participate to stay healthy and get addicted to exercise and healthy eating,” he said.

The top individual mileage earner was Obrad Budic, the captain for Team OIA-ISS, whose total was an amazing 2,287.34 miles.

Oliva admits she wasn’t doing much in the way of exercise before Hit the Road with the Buckeyes began, so she is thrilled to see the university encouraging its employees with a fun activity.

“I am not usually one to sign up for these things, but I overcame my fear,” she said. “It helps keep people active in their life and in their workplace. And to be a part of something like this is what is so rewarding.”

For more on the Hit The Road with the Buckeyes campaign, visit hr.osu.edu/hittheroad.

These Buckeyes were made for walkin’

Hit the Road with the Buckeyes was a big … well, hit with the faculty and staff, more than 4,700 of whom participated in the 2009 event. In all, 980 teams of up to five people took part from all six Ohio State campuses and 37 OSU Extension county offices. Some other numbers of note:

• A total of 1,313,723 miles were “walked” (and that included other activities that could convert to miles).
• 173 teams compiled at least 1,985 miles to reach the National Championship level.
• 153 teams “walked” the 1,610 miles to the Conference Championship level.
• 380 teams reached 931 miles in the Top 25 Ranking tier.
• 166 teams sweat their way to 452 miles and the Bowl Eligible tier.

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