Here’s to a healthy start this spring quarter, for students, staff, faculty and the community at large:

• Mind Body Wellness Challenge — Adopt a healthy habit for seven weeks, and, then, hopefully, keep it forever. Next week’s kickoff event, the Healthy Activity Fair, will feature screenings and education, plus mini-massages and prizes.
• 5K Aggie Stride for Pride — Students have organized this inaugural event as a fundraiser for scholarships and an emergency fund for students. People of all ages are invited to run or walk the 3.1-mile route around the campus.

Mind Body Wellness Challenge

Get your challenge going at the Healthy Activity Fair, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday (April 4) in the Activities and Recreation Center Ballroom. Release time with supervisory approval is appropriate.

(Note: You are encouraged to participate in the Mind Body Wellness Challenge, even if you do not attend the kickoff.)

The organizers said more than two dozen campus units and outside companies are due to participate in the Healthy Activity Fair, and many of them will offer giveaways. Also, the first 300 people in the door will receive free resistance exercise tubing and water bottles.

Everyone who attends will get a raffle ticket for a prize drawing at 1 p.m. Prizes include free classes and assessments, gift baskets and gift cards.

Testing will be provided for body fat, cholesterol, blood pressure and grip, and a biophotonic will be set up. Information will be provided on wellness and nutrition — and don’t forget those free mini-massages!

As you make your way around the fair, think of a healthy habit you’d like to try in the challenge, which runs through May 22. You also are encouraged to take a self-assessment, based on the Wellness Wheel (see graphic).

Online registration is under way (and recommended), or you can sign up at the Healthy Activity Fair.

By registering, you will receive regular emails with links and resources to keep you on track, and information on lunchtime wellness programs. If your UC health plan includes StayWell, you’ll earn points for attending any of these events — points to help you get your $100 StayWell gift card. More information on the StayWell program, including points and gift cards.

Wellness Passports will be handed out at the kickoff (or, if you’re not going, a download will be available soon on the Wellness Challenge website), to record your weekly progress and collect stamps to note attendance at Wellness Challenge activities.

The best reward in this challenge is better health — but there will be a drawing for prizes, too, including top prize of a two-night stay at Chanslor Ranch at Bodega Bay.

5K Stride for Aggie Pride

Lace up your running or walking shoes for this event, Sunday, April 7.

Proceeds will go to We Are Aggie Pride, which provides emergency funding to students in need, and the ASUCD Scholarship endowment, which provides tuition support for outstanding students. In addition, the ASUCD is matching every dollar that comes into the endowment through June 30, up to $50,000.

Registration continues online, or you can sign up the day of the stride, starting at 8 a.m. at the north end of the Quad. Fees: $15 for students (K-12 to college), $30 for nonstudents. (Free for children under 5, or $7 to get a shirt and bib.)

Group stretching is set to begin at 9 a.m. and the run-walk at 9:30. The course winds through the core campus and along the arboretum waterway before ending up back at the Quad.

The organizers said they have arranged for entertainment and other activities surrounding the stride. The entertainment program includes the Afterglow men's a capella group, Japanese Taiko Drum Ensemble, Golden Turtle Lion Dance Association and a Nigerian dance group.

Also, campus departments, and local and regional businesses will offer information booths and hands-on activities.

The organizers said registered participants will be entered in a drawing for prizes that include a Kaplan academic prep course, San Francisco Giants and Sacramento Kings gear, Oakland A's VIP tickets, campus fitness classes, iPods, UC Davis Stores gift cards and an Akasha Yoga gift certificate, as well as tickets for events at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

Read the news release. More information is available here and on Facebook. Check out the promotional video.

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