Tuesday afternoon marked the kickoff of Healthy Gators' "virtual walk" from New York City to Gainesville.
Six walking teams began their one-mile trek on various routes through campus at 12:15 p.m. The group walks will take place at the same time every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
The goal of the "virtual tour" is to have walkers collectively walk more than 1,000 miles this fall, the same distance from New York City to Gainesville. Each of the six different routes is about one mile long and takes about 20 minutes to walk. They begin at various locations on campus like Library West, the Reitz Union colonnade and the cultural plaza.
"It's really not that long," said Jean Starobin, one of the team leaders. "It's not a huge time commitment."
The Walking Gators program was designed by Healthy Gators to give students and faculty the opportunity to get their daily exercise while they take a break from the stress of the day.
"I think it's just to promote health for the university," Starobin said, "for faculty, staff and students."
