Before Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Coldplay, Bruno Mars, the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos made an appearance in living rooms across America, a group of hikers burned off some calories to enjoy some Super Bowl snacks guilt-free.

On Feb. 7, the Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust and the Westport Land Conservation Trust teamed up to sponsor the 8th Annual Pre-Super Bowl Walk. Spanning six miles, attendees hiked through the land surrounding the Slocum's River and Westport River over conserved land, through state-owned land and privately-owned land.

According to outreach coordinator James Bride, the Super Bowl walk provides people with a “once-a-year deal” to traverse through not only Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust trails but through land usually not available to the public.

The hike provided a great distraction for people looking to kill time before kicking back for the Super Bowl as well as those with no interest in the sport.

“We’re not planning on watching the Super Bowl,” said Coleen Dawicki. “We just figured this would be a good chance to get outside and explore some new trails.”

“I’m not too interested [in the Super Bowl] since the Pats aren’t playing,” said Susan Sharpe.

“People are interested in the adventures and the experiences. They love getting outdoors,” Bride said. “Both Westport Land Trust and DNRT are trying to encourage people to get outdoors, enjoy the trails and hopefully become more engaged and support the organizations.”

“I love it, I love it,” said Sharpe, who was the only one of her friends not to back out of the walk.

Bride said he was beyond impressed with the enormous turnout.

“We were expecting 40!” he said to enormous crowd gearing up for the hike’s kick-off. More than 150 people arrived to the Slocum River Reserve.

The event was a collaborative effort. Though this Super Bowl walk was Bride’s first as part of the organization, the Westport Land Trust and Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust have been holding this event for nearly a decade.

At the end of the trail, people were treated to The Westport Rivers Winery, which opened its doors to the hikers. Participants got to enjoy wine tastings and could purchase bottles to take home.

“We look forward to having more partnerships in the future,” Bride said.

Later that day, the Broncos defeated the Panthers, 24-10.