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Four universities to walk 200 000 km in ten weeks

12 April 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Charl Devenish

“May the best team win the 2019 BestMed Pedometer Challenge!” said LJ van Zyl, Pedometer Challenge ambassador.

Participants in the 2019 BestMed Pedometer Challenge will start improving their health step by step after the University of the Free State (UFS) challenged the Stellenbosch University, Central University of Technology, and North-West University (NWU) to an eight-week walking competition.

South African 400-metre hurdles record-holder and the Pedometer Challenge ambassador, LJ van Zyl, embraced the initiative as an alternative method to achieve fitness. “I am so tired of running and this is great way to stay fit,” he said during the official launch on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus on 5 April 2019.

Inter-institutional fight for fitness

Last year, the UFS Division for Organisational Development and Employment Wellness in the Department of Human Resources led a UFS-only challenge that saw 60 teams of staff members log a total of 54 606 km in eight weeks. The division then challenged the NWU.

Together, the NWU and UFS walked 132 000 km. This year, the UFS is taking it one step further by challenging two more institutions.

Leading the way

“We aim to get South Africa active – starting with the UFS – by embracing fitness and health ourselves,” said Arina Engelbrecht, UFS Employee Wellness Specialist.

Participants on all fitness and activity levels will gun for a 200 000 km target over 10 weeks.

The challenge kicked off on the Bloemfontein Campus with a 3-km walk at the launch, leaving 199 997 km between the four universities for the rest of the eight-week challenge.

News Archive

UFS now offers free bus service

2012-03-22

Prospective Kovsie students from Namibia and parts of the Southern Cape will be able to make use of a free bus service to and from the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS).

New first-year students from these areas will be able to travel to the Bloemfontein Campus at no cost. The bus service to and from the UFS will also be available during the April and June holidays.

The bus to Namibia will stop at Kimberley, Upington, Keetmanshoop, Mariental and Windhoek. Parts of the Southern Cape that form part of the service include Colesberg, Beaufort-Wes, Oudtshoorn, Mosselbaai, George and Knysna.

Mr Gerhard van Rhyn, Deputy Director: Marketing at the UFS, says a growing need for a transport service to and from Namibia and the Southern Cape led to the introduction of the free bus service.

“Both Namibia and the Southern Cape are close to the heart of the UFS. Over the years, thousands of students from these areas came to study at our university, and left their mark. A large number of Kovsie Alumni also live in Namibia and the Southern Cape.”

Prospective Kovsies who want to use the bus service will have to apply to use the service and final transport arrangements will be communicated to them directly.

For more information contact Ms Anita Jackson at 051 401 3408 or jacksona@ufs.ac.za.

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