Campus Recreation’s Fall into Fitness activities reach a mid-week peak today with three free GroupX “theme classes” and several craft events on Ragsdale lawn for Wellness Wednesday.

The season-inspired initiative is part of an annual effort by Campus Recreation to promote community health and celebrate the week with fun activities leading up to Halloween. At the Alumni Gym from Oct. 15 to 21, all GroupX classes are free with an option to make monetary donations to the Hurricane Harvey relief fund.

Marketing Coordinator senior Marissa Nicholas said Campus Recreation’s week of free events is about “finding ways that you can get your body moving and have better emotional well being, which contributes to the whole person.”

“When we get to the mid-point in the semester, life can be stressful,” Nicholas said. “When you’re not staying active and being fit that can contribute to higher stress levels, too. It’s important to have wellness in your life and find ways that you can have fun and de-stress.”

As it turns out, de-stressing can involve Nerf guns. Campus Recreation hosted a game of hide-and-seek tag called Toppers vs. Zombies at 6:30 p.m. with Nerf guns on Monday. Participants divided into two teams and played on Ragsdale Lawn, followed by a get-together campfire and s’mores event at 8 p.m. outdoors on the sand volleyball court by Teresa Hall.

Intramural coordinator senior Baxter Coronado volunteered to run Toppers vs. Zombies and the campfire, noting that he first got involved with Campus Recreation as a freshman at St. Edward’s. It was events like these, he said, that allowed him to make friends and stay at the university.

Now on the leadership team, Coronado said Fall into Fitness is a time to get students back into a healthy lifestyle and experience Campus Recreation’s wellness opportunities.

“Everyone is super close and welcoming,” Coronado said. “We as Campus Rec want to bring everyone closer to each other and let people find those friends that they enjoy.”

Freshman Harris Baumann attended a game of Toppers vs. Zombies earlier in his first semester and said he decided to come back to “have fun and chill.”

“I heard my friends were coming, so I thought, ‘Eh, why not?’ I don’t really have much homework due tomorrow,” Baumann, an English Writing and Rhetoric major said. “I’m a big strategy nerd.”

Tomorrow’s events include sunset yoga in front of Main Building at 6:30 p.m. and a Halloween-themed HIIT (high intensity interval training class) also at 6:30 p.m., with Friday and Saturday events including watching the film “Get Out” while swimming in the Campus Rec pool, lake clean-up and climbing at the greenbelt.

“I always suggest that people check the calendar and see what’s in their interest, whether it’s painting pumpkins and making trail mix, or watching a movie at the pool and swimming with floaties,” Nicholas said. “You’re don’t have to be a crazy athlete to stay fit; fitness is for everyone. That’s what Fall Into Fitness is about.”