WARM YOUR HEART The Polar Run benefits your health and a child's. BY SARA BEHUNEK
In its 139 years, the University of Kansas has established many traditions: newspaper confetti at basketball games, waving the wheat and more recently, the cardinal blue T-shirt adorned with the ever-so-polite "Muck Fizzou." Our predecessors would be so proud. The Polar Run, a 5-kilometer walk or run and 10-kilometer run, might be the next on that list. Sponsored by the University f Kansas
Recreation Services, the first-ever Polar Run aims at collecting warm clothes for the local Ballard Community Center, 708 Elm St. The center offers outreach programs, provides assistance to families in need and offers childcare services for infants to elementary-aged kids.
Each participant pays $7 and receives a long-sleeve T-shirt.
from the KU Bookstore. Coca-Cola, Yello Sub, Great Harvest and the Community Mercantile will cater the event with food and water for participants.
The activity benefits local organizations and promotes the Recreation Center. Students, faculty and community members who have not seen the campus's most recent pride and joy will take their first look when they participate in the
The fee will pay for the Polar Run T-shirt. Participants are encouraged to bring child-size, or at least small-sized winter items. Sign-up sheets are located at the Student Fitness Recreation Center or at a booth in the Kansas Union today and tomorrow.
Event organizer Julie Welsh will award participants with prizes such as mittens, hats and Nalgene bottles donated from Backwoods Outdoor Store, a bowling party from Jay Bowl or a gift certificate
repeat the route.
run, says Welsh, Prairie Village senior and personal trainer program manager. The 5-kilometer walk or run (3.1 miles) begins at the Recreation Center, circles to Sunnyside Ave, goes up the hill, around Jayhawk Boulevard, atop Daisy Hill and ends back at the Recreation Center. Ten-kilometer (6.2 miles) runners will
One month in the works, this event will signify the first of its kind in 10 years. "I've had some sleepless nights worrying about this," Welsh says. But with 15 Recreation Center employee volunteers, she is confident the run will be a success for the center, positively affecting KU tradition and especially children in need.
—Sara Behunek, Jayplay writer, can be reached at sbehunek@kansan.com.
- Participants will run or walk 5 kilometers, the equivalent of 3.1 miles, beginning and ending at the Student Recreation Center. Ten-kilometer runners will repeat the route.
POLAR RUN SPECIFICS
- The $7 participation fee pays for a Polar Run long-sleeve T-shirt. Participants are encouraged to bring child-size winter items.
CHOOSE YOUR POWER BY LAUREN KARP
- Participants can win prizes donated from Backwoods Outdoor Store, Jay Bowl, Jayhawk Bookstore, Coca-Cola, Yello Sub and the Community Mercantile.
Power Bars
Power bars are showing up in gym bags among athletes, on college campuses
across the nation
and at the Olympic games. These nutrient-packed bars are great for a quick on-the-run hunger fix, but they are not a meal substitute.
The makers of PowerBar have a section on their Web site, www.powerbar.com, under the nutrition tips, which stresses to include all of the proper carbohydrates, fat, protein and essential vitamins and minerals in your diet. One cannot live off power bars alone.
Although they are easy to grab and have good-for-you ingredients, power bars do not take the place of other foods you need that also provide much-needed nutrients. As you begin your hunt for the perfect power bar, keep in mind that each person requires different nutrients. Nancy O'Connor, director of education and outreach at the Community Mercantile, 901 Iowa St., says you should speak with a health food storeowner or a nutritionist to find out what nutrients are necessary for your body. You should also read the nutrition labels on the bars before purchasing to make sure those bars suit your needs.
like, carbohydrate-packed bar substitutes
Some newer options available include Clif Bars' Ice Series, which offers three caffeine-enhanced bars fortified with vitamins and minerals. Clif Bars also offers Luna Bars, which are marketed toward women and have the nutrients essential to a woman's needs: calcium, iron, selenium and folic acid. These bars have a fair number of carbohydrates and contain about 10- to -12 grams of protein per bar.
If a bar doesn't sound appetizing, try gulping your nutrients from a gel packet. PowerBar and Clif Bars offer these jelly-
that are sure to give you a quick burst of energy.
Power Shakes
Power Shakes Power shakes come in many different forms; you can add a little bit of power in various forms to a fruit smoothie. Vegetarians use them as a form of protein. Athletes use power shakes for extra nutrients, specifically carbohydrates. Then there are those who lack a diet, which provides them with the nutrients they need to live a healthy life. Although these shakes, should not substitute for all your meals, as long as you supplement them with other foods, it is okay to drink a shake as a meal replacement for one of your meals.
Aaron Boos, owner of the Lawrence Nutrition Center doesn't see a lot of cons in using power shakes as a meal substitute.
Boos says, "You can still get all of your vitamins and minerals and you cut your calories in half. You'll get higher amounts of protein and carbohydrates and the amount of fat will be lower."
Everyone needs to use a power shake that is geared towards him or her. Experts say soy protein is good for regulating women's hormones; it contains isoflavones for heart and bone protection, it prevents breast and endometrial cancer and it aides in lowering cholesterol. It is best to buy soy protein made with non-genetically modified soybeans. One product on the market is the Revival Soy Protein Shake.
O'Connor says when buying a power shake you have to decide if you want it flavored or sweetened. That tends to make it cost more. She says you can buy whey or soy protein for a lot cheaper and just combine it with rice or soymilk and fruit and it will taste just as sweet.
—Lauren Karp, Jayplay writer, can be reached at lkarp@kansan.com.
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thursday, december 4, 2003