Wellness Wednesday – activity opportunities

The College of Public Health and the Center for Healthy Living have teamed with Live Well Omaha to support several activities meant to get the city’s residents up and moving.

UNMC employees are encouraged to take part in the events, either as participants or volunteers.

Results still coming in … We have received reports of more UNMC runners who participated in the half marathon portion of the May 3 Lincoln Marathon. The participants and their times were: Thomas Petro, Ph.D., professor in the College of Dentistry, 1 hours, 43 minutes and 15 seconds; Jim Melson of pulmonary medicine, 1 hour and 50 minutes (Melson also ran the Rock and Roll half marathon in San Antonio this past November and finished in 1 hours and 40 minutes); Matthew Byarlay, D.D.S., assistant professor in the College of Dentistry, 1 hour, 56 minutes and 16 seconds; Karen Knap, radiology technician in the College of Dentistry, 2 hours, 17 minutes and 10 seconds; Eunghwan Kim, D.D.S., assistant professor in the College of Dentistry, 2 hours, 17 minutes and 10 seconds; and Shawneen Gonzalez, D.D.S., assistant professor in the College of Dentistry, 2 hours, 52 minutes and 8 seconds.

Live Well Omaha and UNMC are partners in the Top 10 in Ten promotion, which is designed to make Omaha one of America’s top 10 healthiest cities in 10 years. Based on criteria including rates of smoking, obesity, binge drinking, activity levels and nutrition, Omaha presently ranks 142 out of 183 American cities.

But since the inception of Live Well Omaha and its affiliate activities, such as Activate Omaha, the city has improved in the area of physical activity.

“These programs make a difference and we support and encourage UNMC employees to participate in activities aimed at improved health,” said Keith Mueller, Ph.D., interim dean of the College of Public Health.

Upcoming Live Well Omaha events include:

• “Bike Omaha Commuter Challenge,” which began May 11 and runs through August. Weekly prizes are distributed to the individuals who log the most miles to work each week. Team prizes/trophies are available at the end of August to teams logging miles. Contact Peter Pellerito at 559-5253 or ppellerito@unmc.edu or Tammie at 934-5923 or tammie@activateomaha.org for more information.

• “Adventure Omaha — the Ultimate Urban Adventure Race” on June 6. Think you are in pretty good shape? Think you know Omaha? If you have a mountain bike, a sense of adventure and a sense of humor, this amazing race is for you. Form a team of three and be prepared to bike, run, climb, paddle and navigate your way through Omaha while you search for check points. To register, visit www.NSCRacing.com or contact Activate Omaha at 934-5923.

If you don’t want to compete in the Adventure Omaha race, you can participate as a volunteer. Volunteers are needed on June 5 for packet pick up (at Riverfront Place condos) and various pre-race duties. Volunteers also are needed on race day for various assignments of differing time commitments. Contact Brian Kerl at briankerl@yahoo.com for more information.

Interested UNMC employees also are encouraged to volunteer to lead trail rides on the Keystone Trail during July. The tours are for low income youth groups. Bikes are available for the youth. Nutrition and healthy living information will be presented on the rides. Contact Tammie at 934-5923 or tammie@activateomaha.org for more information.