College launches lunch-time walking routes

A COLLEGE took several steps towards a healthier lifestyle yesterday.

University College Cork (UCC) became the first Irish university to launch lunch-time walking routes for staff and students.

Designed under the Irish Heart Foundation’s Slí na Sláinte (path to health) scheme, the walks urge those who work on campus to incorporate physical activity into their day.

Walkers can choose any of three routes — the 1.7km yellow route, the 2km green route and the 3.4km red route.

They take in UCC’s campus as well as the lovely surroundings of the Mardyke Gardens and Fitzgerald’s Park.

They all follow a loop system that allows people to exercise, no matter how little time they have at lunch.

Motivational time to walk signs have also been placed at the UCC’s Western Road pedestrian gates, the gates into the car park at Áras na Laoi and the gates into Brookfield Health Sciences Complex.

UCC president Dr Michael Murphy said the launch yesterday was timely as it coincided with National Work-Life Balance Day.

The Irish Heart Foundation’s regional manager, Anne Riordan, said the routes are a simple, inexpensive and unobtrusive way of helping to promote a healthier lifestyle.

“We’ve received an overwhelming response from all sectors to date and would be happy to team up with everybody in the workplace,” she said.

A charity lunch-time walking race in aid of the Marymount Hospice also took place yesterday.

Yesterday’s launch formed part of the Mind, Body, Soul Experience which has been taking place in UCC since Monday.