JCU Athletics Department Launches Strava Challenge
The John Cabot University Athletics Department, Community Service Program, and Student Services team, in collaboration with the STAND and Grassroots clubs, recently launched the second edition of the JCU Strava Challenge.
JCU Athletics Logo
Strava is an app that allows users to track their physical exercise. The app offers several types of challenges as a way to motivate users to push themselves and accomplish a specific goal. Challenges can last a day, several days, or even an entire month. Users can either join an existing group or “club” or create their own and invite friends to participate in the challenge. The club created by the JCU Athletics Department is composed of 45 active members, including 19 current students, 20 staff members, and 6 alumni.
The overall objective of the Strava Challenge created by the JCU Athletics club is to strengthen the University’s sense of community while promoting a healthy and eco-friendly way of life. The app measures and keeps track of all types of activity, from walking, to biking, running, indoor workouts, and more. Tracking daily exercise can either be done by synching the app with a smartwatch or by clicking on “register an activity.” This option will allow users to select a type of activity (walking, running, biking, etc.) and track the covered distance, time span, heart rate, and consumed calories. Users can share pictures of their workout, as well as the route they completed.
Each week, the JCU Athletics Team will set a cumulative fitness goal for participants. If this goal is met, donations sponsored by Student Services and STAND will be delivered to Vo.Re.Co., a center that provides essential services to former prisoners and people living in difficult situations, and the Church of Santa Lucia del Gonfalone. On the first week of the challenge, from February 15 to 21, the JCU Athletics club totaled 172 hours of physical activity, reaching its goal and allowing the JCU Community Service and Stand club to deliver the first donation.
“Since we had to close the gym, we had limited possibilities to work on in-presence activities, so we tried to think out of the box, to engage and promote a healthy lifestyle in our community. With the Strava challenge we are not only reaching our goal, but we are also helping the local community, and working to strengthen a sense of JCU Pride. Last but not least, we are helping JCU to become more eco-friendly. It’s great teamwork and I am proud of our achievement. We must change our mindset and believe in sustainable mobility,” says Marco Iorio, Coordinator of the JCU Athletics Department.
The Grassroots club is currently helping the Athletics Department by calculating the amount of reduced carbon dioxide emissions and saved trees as a result of the physical activity.
How to sign up for the JCU Strava Challenge:
1- Download the Strava App and create an account;
2- Go to Privacy Settings and make your profile PUBLIC;
3- Go to “Clubs” and search JCU Athletics under ALL Clubs (or click here to find the club);
4- Request to join;
5- Connect your smartwatch to Strava or register your physical activity using the app.
