Meet Me at Maynards offers the chance to be social and get in shape. Walkers and runners travel a 2, 3 or 4-mile route through downtown as a social activity that brings together community members.
Meet Me at Maynards began in 2009 in the hopes of promoting health, wellness and the development of downtown.
Jannie Cox, Dave Syverson and Randy Accetta founded the opportunity to give people an outlet to exercise while appreciating the recent upgrades to downtown Tucson. With the ample amount of construction going on downtown, some businesses have suffered.
“One reason we focused on health and wellness is because Tucson is hit hard with diabetes, obesity and heart disease,” Accetta said. “One of the best ways to combat such diseases is by walking and/or running. We also focused on downtown development in order to aggregate an audience to shop and eat there.”
Accetta teaches courses at the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship and previously taught in the Business Communication Program. He has been awarded Eller College of Management teacher of the year twice. Along with working on Meet Me at Maynards, Accetta is a staff adviser for the Wildcat Running Club and is involved with the Southern Arizona Roadrunners.
Accetta said he hopes that students will participate and become involved with the event so that downtown can gain a better image around campus. He hopes that students will intermingle with Tucson locals to create a community that appreciates both the beauty of Tucson and the perks of staying healthy.
Event sponsors include the Tucson Medical Center, Southern Arizona Roadrunners, BBVA Compass and The Arizona Daily Star. On Monday, the event drew more than 500 people, with 446 of them returning participants.
Meet Me at Maynards tracks how many times walkers and runners attend the event and awards them with small gifts for their participation. These goodies include a T-shirt for attending eight times, a cap for 15 walks or runs and a pin for the 50th time. Participants sign up starting at 5:15 p.m. and begin the walk whenever they are ready.
