Amid midterms, job searches, and everything else dominating student life during this busy time of the semester, it may be easy for students to put exercise on the back burner in their daily routines.
On Tuesday, though, Barnard’s Macintosh Activities Council made it a goal to raise exercise awareness through a low-key, interactive student event.
“Run with President Spar in the Park” is the first event of its kind at Barnard: a two-mile run in Morningside Heights with President Debora Spar. About 15 Barnard students gathered Tuesday to participate in this activity, which not only led up to the annual Big Sub event, but also kicked off this year’s revived Barnard Fall Fest, a week of student activities on campus.
The run was conceived when McAC Network Committee Chair Leah Messing, BC ’13, approached Spar to ask if she would do a fitness-related activity with students.
“I asked her if she was interested in doing an aerobics class or yoga or Pilates, and she said she would like to do a run in Riverside Park,” Messing said. While the parallel between this event and University President Lee Bollinger’s “Fun Run” was not immediately apparent, Messing said, “It’s cool that we have one on the Barnard side and one on the Columbia side.”
The plan was for Spar to take students on her favorite running path along Riverside Drive and through Riverside Park. McAC decided to schedule the run to coincide with the annual Big Sub tradition, in which students feast on a sub stretching from one end of campus to the other. This year, the sub was 711 feet long, in honor of the class of 2011.
Passersby remarked on the sheer length of the sandwich. “Wow, it just goes on and on!” one exclaimed. “Is this for a record?” another asked.
Both the run and the Big Sub have become part of Fall Fest, which is coordinated by the five McAC committees. While many students are unfamiliar with Fall Fest, it is actually an old Barnard tradition that was brought back after students rediscovered it upon looking through old photos.
McAC President Jessica Blank, BC ’12, is confident that this recovered tradition is just one way the organization will bring Barnard students together through its motto, “Making Barnard tradition happen.”
“A big buzzword on campus is definitely community this year, and we’re trying to foster a sense of community on campus as much as possible,” Blank said.
The run started at 5:30 p.m. Spar was clad in pearl earrings, workout shorts, and a pink McAC-made event shirt that read, “If President Spar has time to work out... so do you.”
Indeed, Spar is known for her consistent fitness regimen, which involves running the Riverside path between Barnard and 96th Street every morning. Mica Spicka, BC ’13, said she heard that Spar wakes up at 6 a.m. to work out, and even heard rumors that she is a “fan of the elliptical.”
“I admire that she’s breaking out of the confines of the gym to work out with us kids who exercise at normal hours,” Spicka said.
During the run, because of the relatively small size of the group, Spar was able to talk extensively to individual students about topics running the gamut from the class of 2011 graduation (the Grant Tomb location is essentially determined—she’s just working out the details) to her Harvard and Georgetown days.
The low-key nature of the run also allowed students to bring up numerous other matters of interest with Spar. One suggested inviting Betty White or Barbra Streisand to speak at graduation. Another discussed experiences with summer internships.
Spar said she found this fireside-chat-on-feet to be both a valuable bonding and fitness experience.
“I do this run a lot, but it’s much more fun in the company of such terrific students,” Spar said. “It was also great to hear people’s views on a wide range of topics—even if we were occasionally talking with slightly shorter breaths.”
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