Corrie Whisner (PhD ’11) ran cross country and track as a Purdue undergrad (NUTR ’07). She ran a blistering 7:01 minutes-per-mile pace in the 2011 Indianapolis Mini-Marathon. Her finishing time of 1:31:48 was good enough for 59th overall among 683 women. Greg Dargie, a self-described “HHS adoptee” who works in Purdue’s Office of Investments, walked the Indy Mini in just over three hours. The best news: He lost 38 pounds and 4.5 percent body fat training for it.
One of the first examples of cross-college collaboration came in late in 2010 when Wayne Campbell, professor of nutrition science, started asking colleagues and students within his department if they’d be interested in running or walking the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon.
A starting group of seven became 10, ballooned to 20, and doubled to some 40 people, all connected to the department. Ultimately, the college-wide initiative gathered nearly 85 people who had opportunities to get body assessment tests, form training groups and download tips and training programs from a website. Not everyone competed in the race, but they wanted to be part of the training.
A veteran of three Indianapolis Mini-Marathons and a total of five half marathons (that’s 13.1 miles), Campbell enjoyed the camaraderie of a small training group several years ago before his first run in Indianapolis. After he and his wife signed up for the 2011 race, he decided he would spread the word to gather another group.
“I started, almost as a lark really, to encourage other people to sign up. I went into people’s offices and twisted some arms,” Campbell says. “There were two things that helped it along. As I was meeting people face to face, they really responded. And I got enough people to sign up as walkers.”
When Christine Ladisch, inaugural dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences (HHS), heard about Campbell’s successful recruits within his own department, she encouraged him to spread the word throughout the college. They found another 40 or so who had already signed up for the race.
The training programs Campbell compiled were based on 12-week schedules, offering specialized programs for novice, intermediate and seasoned walkers and runners. Campbell offered to measure body composition and aerobic fitness levels early in the training and just before the race.
There have been Purdue classes offered in the past that trained students for marathons, but this was the first college-wide initiative to encourage students, faculty and staff to train together.
For Campbell, it’s a pursuit that goes hand-in-hand with the philosophical approach to his teaching and research. “I’m interested in how to use nutrition and exercise for successful aging,” he says.