Walktober

Healthy Habits

Walktober

Students, get your steps in this Walktober!

During the month of October, students have the opportunity to earn additional PIPs and monthly prizes by signing up for the in-app Walking Fitness Challenge.

Whether you are walking from your residence hall to the dining hall, exploring the campus trails or walking to class, you’ll earn PIPs by reaching the daily challenge of 8,000 or 12,000 steps.

PIPs encourage students to take actions that focus on their entire person and support their overall wellness, including in areas such as academic excellence, mental health, social connectedness, community involvement and physical wellbeing.

By setting daily or weekly step goals, you will be setting healthy habits that encourage you to move more and may help you find positive ways to manage stress, create connection and try new things. Find a friend to help you stick to your goals. You don’t have to hike a fourteener to earn PIPs – but if you do, there’s a SOLE trip to help.

How to earn PIPs:

  • First, download PIPs Rewards mobile app through the Apple Store or Google Play. Android users may download the Google Health app, which connects to the PIPs app.
  • Opt into the Walking for PIPs Challenge within the PIPs app. Steps are tracked via Apple Health and Google Fit.
    • 8,000 steps daily: 50 PIPs
    • 12,000 steps daily: 75 PIPs
    • An overall max of 325 PIPs are awarded weekly
  • Participants will also be eligible for the following monthly prizes:
    • Most steps in a day: 500 PIPs
    • Drawing for most consistent average – any participants who reaches 8,000 steps 15 times during the month: 750 PIPs
    • Most steps overall: 1,000 PIPs
    • Drawing for any student who reached 12,000 steps four times during the month: 1,000 PIPs
Easy Ways to Earn Steps on Campus
Campus Recreation and Wellness Events + Programs

Students can also earn steps by participating in group fitness classes in-person or remotely, or sign up to get moving with a Fitness Buddy for free. Register here for group fitness. 

For those itching to get their steps in outside, the following SOLE trips are offered this October. Register online.

  • Saturday, Oct. 9: Paradise Cove Hike
  • Wednesday, Oct. 13: Night Hike at the Garden of the Gods
  • Saturday, Oct 16: Sandboarding at Great Sand Dunes National Park
Local Trails

Local trails accessible from campus:

  • Pulpit Rock: To access from main campus or the residential villages, take Stanton Road to Eagle Rock Road. Turn right onto Eagle Rock Road and then take the dirt road north to North Campus Heights. You’ll take the trail from the Heller Center northwest passing behind the Indoor Practice Facility, the BMW dealership, and The Lodges apartment complex. This will connect you with the trail to the top of Pulpit.
  • Palmer Park: To access from UCCS, head towards University Hall and Lot 100. Follow the greenway trail under Union and Austin Bluffs. The trail will loop you to be parallel with Austin Bluffs. This will connect you with Lazy Lane and tons of other trails in the park.

Additional information on local trails can be found on the SOLE website.

Outdoor Art Installations

Outdoor art installations accessible from campus:

  • NEW! Mobile-friendly Audio Tour for the Art WithOut Limits Public Sculpture Program
  • Heller Center for Arts & Humanities: To access from main campus or the residential villages, take Stanton Road to Eagle Rock Road. Turn right onto Eagle Rock Road and then take the dirt road north to North Campus Heights. The Heller Center has art installations, an outdoor classroom, and trails that lead to Pulpit Rock.
  • Ent Center for the Arts Outdoor Sculpture Garden: To access from main campus or the residential villages, take the Spine Road or Stanton to Eagle Rock Road to the Ent Center. The Ent Center for the Arts Outdoor Sculpture Garden changes throughout the semesters and years. The Starr Kempf sculptures won’t be on loan for much longer, so make sure you take the time to be in the presence of these amazing works of art!
  • University Village Center Public Art: To access from Main campus or the residential villages, take the Spine Road or Stanton to Eagle Rock Road to the Ent Center. Once you’re at the Ent Center, follow the Sculpture Garden west to take the well-lit, pedestrian underpass beneath N. Nevada. You’ll end up on the west side of North Nevada in the UVC shopping complex. Most of the public art is along North Nevada with a sprinkling of installations throughout grassy patches of UVC.
  • The Windmill Project: From the front doors of the Ent Center for the Arts to the Windmill Project, you would take approx. 2,356 steps. Round trip would get you 4,712 steps! From Lot 580, you would take ~898 steps with a round trip of 1,796.