Bobcats love the outdoors, a helpful fact during a pandemic.

“The ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ campus in itself is a great outdoor facility,” says Mike Milliken, the college’s manager of community wellness. “And this is one of the best times of the year in Maine.”

With physical distancing and other public-health protocols limiting the scale of indoor physical activities, ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ is helping the campus community stay well and healthy in creative and safe ways.

Milliken, who oversees B Well, the ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ wellness program, has expanded his outdoor offerings to include pop-up classes near the Bobcat statue, including yoga, cycling, and Milliken’s famed boot camps. B Well also offers a range of .

Another new outside offering, the featuring six exercise stations along the way. During the week of Oct. 19, ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ will open a new fitness park adjacent to the Wallach Tennis Center.

Beti Stevens ’24 of Kittery, Maine, tried her hand at one of Milliken’s recent boot camps. Her judgment? “Awesome. I loved the music, and it went by really quickly,” she says. “He gave such good direction and was super supportive the whole time and really motivating us and kind of just kept us going.”

The B Well program counts on student workers to lead classes like yoga and cycling.

Alix Zabin ’22 of Milford, Conn., is in charge of the cycling classes. She started out as a participant and was encouraged by one of her peers to become an instructor. While it’s a little different this year, she encourages students to come see what it’s all about.

“It’s outside, it’s socially distanced, we’re wearing masks the whole time,” Zabin said. “I think even though it’s a really different time on campus, it’s a great time to learn something new and try it out.”

A curly-haired stuffed doll sits on a boom box in a Merrill Gymnasium room in which ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ wellness manager Mike Milliken stores exercise gear.

Dubbed “McKell B Well” by Milliken, the doll spends most — but not all — of his time in the cave-like space. And though students, faculty, and staff who join Milliken’s strenuous boot camp–style workouts may fail to notice him, he’s still watching.

“You never know how he gets there.”

McKell is like an Elf on the Shelf, says Milliken, referring to the stuffed Santa’s elf that some parents deploy in their homes before Christmas, telling their children that the elf is there to keep an eye on all that naughty/nice stuff.

Just as an Elf on a Shelf turns up in new spot each morning, so does McKell. “He finds himself around the kettle bells, dumbbells, sometimes on the medicine balls. Sometimes up high. You never know how he gets there,” says Milliken, whose B Well program provides a broad menu of exercise, nutrition, and mindfulness activities for the ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ community, all delivered with some fun and levity, thanks to McKell (and Milliken).

A “spoof gift” to Milliken from his Human Resources colleague Brenda Sawyer, McKell has been known to turn up in Commons. “Kidnapped,” suggests Milliken, who has found his doll in various locations: by the apples, the salad bar, or the vegan bar. He has also appeared with the donuts. Milliken enjoys that irony.

And McKell has been featured in social media videos for the B Well program, including . “He likes to dance,” says Milliken.