University Recreation will celebrate National Walking month with its annual Fitober event. The event runs from Oct. 1-31. Participants may walk or jog miles to stay active, as well as win prizes.

Fitober is free and does not require a UREC membership. All university faculty, staff and students may participate. Participants who log 50 miles or more of any "on foot" activity on will receive a pair of performance socks.

"I enjoy that UREC offers Fitober each year," said Kris Allee, associate professor. "It is encouraging to know that the campus community is participating along with me and we were all trying to make steps to be physically active. It was an added bonus to get free gear for completing the challenge."

Participants may still sign up individually, but also have the option to create a team. The team option allows peer groups to offer support and encourage each other throughout the challenge. 

"Competing as a team during Fitober allowed our office to work together in a way that was fun and inspired us to be physical active," said Jake Tyson, computer support manager. "It was fun listening to how members of our team were completing their mileage by going on nightly walks with their families or going in person to support cases that may normally be handled over the phone.  We even had a team member walk to and from work."

Fitober encourages the university community to get active during, and stay active after the month of October.

"The Surgeon General's recommendation for a healthy lifestyle is to accumulate 150 minutes of activity each week," said Casey Fant, assistant director for fitness and wellness.

Sign up for the challenge and log your miles starting today at fitevent.uark.edu. Participants should login using their current username and password.

For more information, contact Casey Fant at cfant@uark.edu.