The sixth annual Trek to Talloires exercise program began on Jan. 1 and will continue until April 10.
According to Tufts Director of Athletics Bill Gehling (LA '74), the Trek to Talloires is a web-based program where people can set time-based exercise goals for themselves. As participants progress through their fitness goals, they can achieve distance milestones, from Medford to Talloires, France, based on the work they put in.
The Trek to Talloires started as an alternative to running the Boston Marathon, Gehling said.
According to Gehling, the Tufts athletic community wanted to offer a fitness initiative for those who weren’t interested in running a marathon, but still wanted to partake in some sort of workout challenge.
“It’s a way to set a personalized goal, and … also introduce a competitive element,” Gehling said
Director of Rowing Gary Caldwell and Varsity Women’s Rowing coach Brian Dawe founded the Trek to Talloires program. According to Caldwell, the Trek was influenced by a similar fitness contest he once participated in. He was encouraged to start the program to help rowing alums get more involved in working out, and the original Trek included a fundraising component.
Now, in its sixth year, it has evolved into a program that incorporates the entire Tufts community.
“It’s a robust part of our campus commitment to healthier lifestyles,” Caldwell said.
According to Gehling, anyone participating in the Trek to Talloires can challenge other participants. Any type of physical activity can also be used toward progress in the Trek, from shoveling snow to swimming in a pool.
Anne-Christine Rice, a lecturer of French at Tufts, expressed enthusiasm for the Trek and echoed Gehling’s sentiments about the positive competitiveness that it fosters in participants. Her own competitiveness was what first motivated her to participate in the Trek.
“At the time, the easiest goal was 45 hours in 100 days, and I was very concerned I was not going to reach the goal,” Rice said.
Rice ended up logging over 100 hours of exercise in those 100 days.
“I really got into it, in part because I was doing much better than I expected," she said. "I felt that I was in better shape, and I was doing a lot of it outside and it was making me feel better.”
According to Rice, the Trek also creates a sense of community among its participants.
“I met some really nice people, and that was part of the winning side of the Trek … I got to meet [other faculty and staff members] … that [I] would never get to meet otherwise,” Rice said.
Rice enjoyed the challenge so much that she was eager to involve other members of her own family. She currently completes the challenge along with her husband and two children, and other family members and friends outside of the Tufts community have participated in the Trek as well.
Rice is currently working toward her goal of 75 hours of exercise, but hopes to surpass it.
“You can change your goal as you go," she said. "At this point, I am on target for 125 [hours] … It’s very flexible.”
According to Rice, 466 people are currently signed up for the Trek to Talloires, and she is ranked as number 28. In order to reach her goal, she has partaken in activities such as walking, biking, skiing, skating and water aerobics.
“Because of the Trek, I am pushed to try something new,” she said.
Participants in the Trek are not judged on their performances, according to Rice. Instead, they’re ranked on the amount of time spent working toward their goals.
“Even if you’re older and you walk slowly, as long as you have done your exercise, you’re as good as an 18-year-old running around the track,” she said.
Gehling said he believes the Trek to Talloires has been a positive addition to the Tufts community and has encouraged many to reach new fitness goals.
“The idea is, give people the incentive to work out, a way to track it and some reinforcement for doing it," Gehling said. "It’s a wonderful idea."
