With the help of Robert Sweetgall, Missouri Southern hosted a walk to remember.

The kinesiology department and recreation and wellness program put together the Active Living and the Art of Motivating People to Move activity day on Sept. 12. The day consisted of different seminars, a brown bag lunch and “The Missouri Southern Stride with Robert Sweetgall,” which was a walk around the new football turf.

Dr. Pat Lipira, head of the kinesiology department, said there were 115 people on the walk. She felt grateful because University President Julio León led the walk.

Sweetgall, nationally known for walking across the United States seven times, led the activity day.

Lipira said Sweetgall was the keynote speaker at a St. John’s Regional Medical Center heart fair, and she thought he would be a “great person” to come in and speak.

“We ran into him and thought he’d be good to have on campus,” she said.

“We were real fortunate, we felt like, to have such a quality speaker at Missouri Southern.”

The kinesiology department and wellness program split the $1,900 cost of Sweetgall coming to the University. Lipira said “it was worth every penny.”

A total of 800 people turned out for the day. Lipira said she was excited to see so many people come out, and she was impressed by all the positive feedback from the crowd. She thought the day was “very motivational” and made an impact on many people’s lives.

“I hear kids in class talking about how many steps they’ve taken,” she said.

For the activities, people had the option to buy pedometers, a device worn on the belt that measures footsteps.

Lipira said the sale of pedometers went up greatly after the event with students and faculty wanting them.

While the department does not plan to have Sweetgall back, they do plan to follow up on the event. Lipira said the department is going to start a program within the next few weeks. The program will include incentives for people to keep moving.

Tonya Hooper, junior physical education major, said she was also impressed with the day.

“The activities were a lot of fun,” she said. “I think it’s great motivation.”

Susan Flowers, senior physical education major, said Sweetgall gave “good information promoting physical activity in everyday life.”