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Cal State LA Launches Pokémon Go Health Walk

To promote student health and wellness, the university created a walking path throughout the campus that incorporates the augmented reality game.

Pikachu and other beloved Pokémon are taking over California State University, Los Angeles as part of a university initiative to promote physical fitness and wellness for students and employees. Cal State LA’s Mind Matters initiative constructed a health walk that runs throughout the campus and incorporates the popular augmented reality game Pokémon Go.

Formally called the #MindMatters Pokémon Go Health Walk, the route travels through the 175-acre campus and has players complete approximately 9,555 steps or five miles. The route includes 35 PokéStops, where players collect items to help them catch the pocket monsters, and three gyms where Pokémon battles take place.

The Mind Matters initiative seeks to “integrate inner well-being into the framework of university life as a means of supporting student success,” according to the initiative’s website. Faculty and staff from the Office of Communications and Public Affairs mapped out the path and measured the steps, ensuring the step count fell close to the recommended 10,000 daily step requirement that health experts say is needed to promote cardiovascular heath.

The health walk was first announced on Monday on Cal State LA’s Facebook and Twitter accounts and had extensive reach across social media communities, according to the Office of Communications and Public Affairs. With the added gyms and PokéStops, students and employees have been spotted during lunchtime and breaks walking along the route in search of Pokémon and battling at the gyms.

On August 30, Cal State LA plans to hold a Pokémon Go #MindMatters Meetup event in the afternoon. Several of the PokéStops around campus will have “lures” setup to draw rare Pokémon out for players to catch. Additionally, organizers from the Mind Matters initiative and the Student Health Advisory Committee will be staffing booths and handing out water and other giveaways to students and employees who participate.   

A map of the health walk is available on the Cal State LA site.

About the Author

Sri Ravipati is Web producer for THE Journal and Campus Technology. She can be reached at [email protected].

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