SRU wellness commission supporting Zombie 5K, Stress Less Event
The President’s Commission on Wellness at Slippery Rock University supports activities at SRU that focus on the several dimensions of wellness, including a Stress Less bonfire event, Nov. 4, at the Ski Lodge.
Oct. 30, 2019
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — The Slippery Rock University President's Commission on Wellness wants members of the campus community to fight off the ghoulish doldrums of the season and get up and move. To make it fun and easy to do so, they are joining forces with two other University organizations to sponsor a Zombie 5K run and a Stress Less Event.
By supporting wellness-related events at SRU like the Nov. 3 zombie-themed 5-kilometer trail run and the Nov. 4 stress-reducing bonfire event, the PCW is achieving its goal to "empower individuals to make choices and enact behaviors that positively influence their wellness."
"We're the ambassadors for wellness on campus and we're trying to make sure that there are opportunities available to everyone. Wellness isn't something that should be pushed aside during stressful times," said Shawn Davis, assistant professor of parks, conservation and recreational therapy, and PCW co-chair. "We want to make sure wellness is something that is integrated into everyone's life here on campus."
One way to integrate wellness is to appeal to people who wouldn't normally sign up for a 5-kilometer run and to incorporate aspects beyond the physical, such as social and emotional wellness.
An example is the Zombie 5K, hosted by the School of Wellness Education Council at SRU. Registered runners will wear flags and will be chased by people dressed as zombies who will attempt to take their flags. At the end of the race, any uncaptured flags can be redeemed for raffle tickets for a chance to win prizes. The more flags a runner has kept out of the hands of the zombies, the better their chances of winning. Check-in and registration starts at 8 a.m. with the race beginning at 9 a.m. at the SRU Ski Lodge. Early registration, prior to Nov. 1, is $12. To register, click here.
"An event like this bridges the social gap and gets people together to be at play," Davis said. "When it goes along with running then you are hitting some of the other pillars of wellness."
Those seven pillars include: emotional, environmental, intellectual, occupational, physical, social and spiritual wellness.
The PCW is also helping fund a Stress Less Event, 7 p.m., Nov. 4, at the Ski Lodge that will include a bonfire, stress-reducing food and lawn games, like cornhole and KanJam. The event, open to the entire campus community, is being organized as a class project by students in the Professionalism, Advocacy and Leadership in Physical Activity course taught by Dallas Jackson, associate professor of physical and health education.
The PCW has supported other events and resources on campus such as starting a meditation room on the third floor of the Smith Student Center and an ecotherapy garden at the Macoskey Center, as well as encouraging people to represent SRU in the Pittsburgh Marathon's Campus Challenge.
"We have a wellness-focused institution," Davis said. "There a lot of components of wellness and we don't want to be focused just on physical wellness but other aspects as well."
To learn more about the PCW, click here.
MEDIA CONTACT: Justin Zackal | 724.738.4854 | justin.zackal@sru.edu