By Erin O’Sullivan
Late October is a busy time on college campuses—the academic term is in full swing with midterms hovering close, sports clubs and intramurals are keeping schedules packed, and Halloween programming and special events are top-of-mind.
It can be easy, then, with so much to keep us busy, to forget about the world outside of campus.
Trinity College is challenging that—with fitness. On October 27, from 11:00am-6:00pm, they’ll host the Urban Fitness Challenge. This event has individuals and teams compete on a demanding, timed obstacle course of ropes, tires, PVC pipes, sand bags, and more. The course has been designed by co-host and fitness expert, Tyler English.
The Urban Fitness Challege will take place on October 27 at Trinity College.
The event, of course, promotes fitness and wellness amongst the Trinity community; “our sports club teams are ready to take the physical challenge,” says Kathleen Kilcoyne, Assistant Director of Recreation at Trinity. The event, she says, “provides an exciting incentive that inspires students to set personal goals and reach out to others to form a team.”
However, “Trinity is anxious to involve students in the world beyond campus,” says alum Peter Gold of Gold, Orluk & Partners, a sports, event, and cause marketing firm. So, not only is anyone from the immediate community welcome to participate, but Trinity has been proactively recruiting colleges and universities from across the region to take part by sending “challenge notes” from Mike Renwick, Directors of Athletics and Recreation, and offering students the ability to participate at a discounted rate. In fact, Peter reports, one of the Urban Fitness Challenge’s goals is to “develop additional friendly rivalries between higher education institutions in the region,” keeping students active in this broader community long after the event is done.
The other two Urban Fitness Challenge goals also speak to the hopes of lasting, positive effects on Trinity’s larger community— the city of Hartford. These goals are to “encourage student involvement in the community and support the wellness of Hartford’s children.”
Peter points out that this city is “the second poorest in the US, with children in the city suffering disproportionately.” Proceeds from the event therefore, will go to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Hartford—the birthplace of Boys and Girls Clubs of America— to pay for hot evening meals for children attending the nine clubs throughout the city. Each individual registration will help pay for one child’s evening meal for four months at the clubs.
“As an alum,” Peter says, “I know how hard Trinity College works to support the larger community that is the city of Hartford. By providing the physical resources for this event, the college is making a significant contribution to the Boys and Girls Clubs.” Echoing this from a recreation focus, Kathleen says, “The Office of Recreation has a vision to engage the community in recreational activities that improve the mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing of our community.”
As a NIRSA institutional member this is no surprise. Not only is Trinity College’s dedicated support of the Urban Fitness challenge promoting NIRSA’s strategic values of health and wellbeing throughout the region, but also the value of service to a most deserving, community-focused organization. Through bettering the lives of the children of Hartford, Trinity is helping ensure NIRSA’s vision of inspiring healthy people and communities rings true in both this generation and the next.
