The project encouraging KKU staff to have good health and get together to achieve their goals
On the October 3, 2019, the closing ceremony of the “KKU Healthy Life Project”, Walk-Run for Health, aimed for KKU personnel was held. The Campaign was initiated to promote good health and motivate KKU personnel to exercise more. It was held by the Human Resource Section and the Human Resource Division, Khon Kaen University. On this occasion, Assoc. Prof. Charnchai Panthongviriyakul (M.D.), Advisor to Acting President of Khon Kaen University, presided over the closing ceremony of the “KKU Healthy Life Project”, alongside with Asst. Prof. Arwut Yimtae, Vice President for Infrastructure and Environment, Asst. Prof. Dr. Piyawat Foytong, Assistant to the President for Infrastructure and Environment, and Mr. Sathit Kaewbuddha, Director of Human Resource Division, participating in the event.
Assoc. Prof. Charnchai Panthongviriyakul, Advisor to Acting President of Khon Kaen University, stated that having a good health was a result from the way of life. If Thai people still lived their lives as agriculturists, they would have a better chance to take care of their health, compared to the city people that had to wake up early and run for health, instead of working in the farm or orchard. When people’s way of life changed from being agriculturists to office workers, the people’s physical movements were lesser and the energy in their body was less consumed. Office workers have to be careful when it comes to eating. When a human consumed food more than what his body really needed, it led to obesity. Exercising was necessary, even it was very tiring and torturing. It could prevent non-communicable diseases (NCDs), rooted from self-behavior. If people did not take care of themselves in terms of health, they would regret contacting diseases in the future and might become bedridden patients for several years. Since stresses from work could also affect our health, adaptations in life-balance of office workers in the cities were considered important.
“We wish KKU personnel a good health, long living life, away from diseases and wish that they will not become someone else’s burden. Also, we wish that they can work smoothly without being weak or sick ”, said, Assoc. Prof. Charnchai Panthongviriyakul.
In the closing ceremony, Assoc. Prof. Charnchai Panthongviriyakul granted the award plaques to runners who were recorded the longest running distance from the 1st place to the 3rd place in each age category. There were 8 age categories for the event. Running shirts were distributed to the runners who ran for 100-km-distance in phase 2.
Asst. Prof. Arwut Yimtae, Vice President for Infrastructure and Environment, said that the KKU Healthy Life Project was originally initiated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ratchaphon Suntivarakorn, Former Vice President for Human Resource. The Project was able to draw attentions from KKU personnel more than what was expected. It was impressed to see that KKU personnel prioritized the importance of their own health. Motivations for good health were made successfully and results from the Project would be used to improve and create the next project.
In additional, Asst. Prof. Arwut Yimtae said, “I believe that the personnel with good health would be ready and prompt to work and provide efficient work. This kind of activity can also create a gathering of personnel and power in the organization. It can drive the organization’s goals forward, which is one of the guidelines on human resource management. We also create awards for the most successful organization in this project.”
Participants in the project did the exercises by walking and running. The data on the distance was collected. The goal of walk-run success was set at 100 km, from the July 1 – August 31, 2019. The “KKU Healthy Life Project” would provide the Finisher shirts, as awards of success, to participants who met the set up goal of walk-run success, twice a month. In this Project, there were 1,120 participants from all sectors in Khon Kaen University, including KKU Nong Khai Campus. In total, 618 participants were able to meet their goals. Data on the longest walk-run distance was collected, categorizing by gender and age category for each award plaque. According to the results of this running event, the person who had the record of the collected longest running distance (1,316.3 km) was Mr. Narong Rairat from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, from the age category of 31-44 years of age, male category.
Mr. Narong Rairat said that he wanted to thank you Khon Kaen University for the good Project which helped promoting exercises among KKU personnel. He was appreciated to participate in the “KKU Healthy Life Project” and met his expected goal. Joining in the Project helped people to motivate themselves in exercising, apart from routine exercises. He believed that having a good health would positively result in work and lead to creative thinking and ideas, better than having a weak health.
Asst. Prof. Likhit Amarttayakong, a former administrator of Khon Kaen University and former sports instructor, received the first runner-up award, in the age category of more than 56 years of age. He said that exercising was an essential in life. He admired Khon Kaen University for initiating good projects based on the needs of KKU personnel’s good health. Nowadays, more people are interested in exercising. These kinds of healthy campaigns or projects will motivate people who are interested in healthy life to join in. Running is the fundamental exercise that is easy for everyone and the locations in Khon Kaen University are suitable for running. Asst. Prof. Likhit Amarttayakong wished that healthy activities would continue further and they might be improved in many ways.
Mrs. Seerung Polthanee, the runner from Khon Kaen University Library, won the first place in the age category of more than 56 years of age, with the distance of 966.2 km. She said that the “KKU Healthy Life Project” was the great one. Previously, her working section had arranged the running event and she saw the benefits from exercising, toward herself and work-life. She decided to apply and join in the “KKU Healthy Life Project”. At first, her goal was to achieve the running distance of 100 km. After her first goal was met, she felt the motivations from other friends during the running event and then she became more self-disciplined. After running for a while, she decided to keep on running with efforts. Exercising was useful for her health and it was fun to join with other KKU friends. She was proud to build up reputation in running for her working section. Furthermore, she wished that the healthy life projects or campaigns would keep on continuing.
In this event, awards were given to the working sections that had the record of the longest collected walk-run distance in each category. Awards were, then, given and collected at Khon Kaen University Library
News: Udomchai Supanavong
Photos: Attapon Hampong / Udomchai Supanavong
[ Thai ]
