Anh Thai looks out over the treadmills and weight machines and sees a darn good deal.

"I really love this gym," said Thai about the Activities and Recreation Center, also known as just the ARC, an acronym worthy of its biblical proportions.

With her staff membership, Thai, a program assistant at UC Davis Extension, exercises several times a week at the three-year-old facility — just like she did as a student. "It's a large facility," she said, "and you hardly ever have to wait in line to use the equipment. It's close to work for me, so I can stop by on the way home."

There is nothing around these parts quite like the ARC, which at 300,000 square feet sits like the Starship Enterprise of fitness centers on the corner of Orchard Road and La Rue avenues. Inside are more than 100 cardio and work-out machines, a heavy load of free weights, and hundreds of bodies in motion. You can work out alone or as part of a group class in cycling, yoga or the martial arts, to name but a few choices. Afterwards, you can hydrate yourself at a juice bar with a protein shake.

Yet despite its abundance, the ARC seems low on the radar for most faculty and staff — one sees mostly students there.

Thai, who graduated last fall as a French major, offered an explanation. "People tend to work out in their peer groups. So students come here, but I'm not sure why more staff don't."

Bob Sarason, a certified laser safety officer in Environmental, Health and Safety, says staff could take better advantage of the instructional offerings. A UC Davis employee for 29 years, he teaches martial arts at the ARC.

"I think the ARC's extra program offerings set it apart from any of the other work-out places in town," Sarason said. "Where else can you take martial arts instruction for $36 per quarter? Nowhere," he said, adding that off-campus instruction is typically $75 to $100 per month, and a quarter is 10 weeks long.

He suggests that if more employees knew about the ARC, they would join.

An annual membership to the ARC costs a staff or faculty member $340. Compare that to $588 for a year's membership to Peak Performance and $490 at the Davis Athletic Club, two of the larger health clubs in Davis.

As for students, they support the ARC through their student fees. The facility was built entirely with a permanent fee increase approved through the 1999 Facilities and Campus Enhancement student referendum.

Encouraging more faculty and staff to click through the ARC turnstiles is a major goal for Campus Recreation.

Paul Dorn, assistant director for marketing for Campus Recreation, said he and his unit are taking a scientific approach to spreading the word.

"We're going to conduct a focus group in the year ahead to better understand why people are participating and why they are not," said Dorn.

Other than students, 3,629 people hold memberships to the ARC, according to Dorn. This includes faculty, staff, alumni and sponsored associates. Of the latter, a member can sponsor a friend or family member for ARC membership — there are about 150 people so sponsored.

As Dorn explained, employees who do not want to pay a full year's fee upon joining can elect to pay by the quarter ($85) or month ($40). New for this year is a payroll deduction process that will debit one's monthly paycheck at $28.33 at the lower annual rate.

To attend most of the classes like yoga, Pilates, dance classes and advanced cycling, one needs to buy a Group Fitness Intensive Pass ($45 each quarter), which is above and beyond the ARC membership.

Intensive might be a good description of the fitness center during the academic year when the campus population booms. According to the 2006-07 annual report for Campus Recreation, more than a million people clicked through the ARC turnstiles last year. At night the gym has a social element to it as the students sweat and mingle, and not unexpectedly. After all, it is college.

This fall, Campus Recreation has some new programs and capabilities to highlight, said Dorn. "One prominent new development is the opening of the new covered 45,000-square-foot arena at the Equestrian Center. This will make our classes more enjoyable for both students and horses in rainy or hot weather."

For busy parents, Parent's Night Out offers them a few hours of free time while their kids are watched in the ARC. Members can even hold birthday parties in the ARC.

But not everything takes place inside. Like softball or flag football? Faculty and staff can play these intramural sports and others alongside students if they purchase an IM card ($40-$60). The ARC is adjacent to outdoor play fields where many of the IM sports take place.

Back indoors, the ARC's racquetball courts are the draw for Billy Sanders, interim director for interdisciplinary research support in the Office of Research. He has been coming to the ARC since it opened in April 2004.

"The quality of the facility is spectacular," said Sanders, who has played racquetball with colleagues on campus since the early 1990s. "The courts are well-designed and the whole place is well-run."

Law professor and ARC patron Dan Simmons said you never know who you may bump into at the ARC. "Where else can you encounter the chancellor, other administrators and many faculty and staff running around in work-out shorts?"

Karl Mohr, interim assistant vice chancellor for capital resource management and planning, credits the ARC's expansive hours of operation — from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Thursday during the academic year.

"I really enjoy the convenience of the ARC being on campus," said Mohr. "It enables me to use it as my schedule allows — before work in the morning, during lunch, or after work."

Beyond the weights and cardio machines, the ARC has four indoor basketball courts that can also be used for volleyball and badminton, eight four-wall courts for racquetball or squash, an indoor running track, group exercise rooms, dance and martial arts studios, student lounges with computer terminals and wireless access points, and even a large ballroom and a conference center.

Around the corner from the fitness room is an imposing climbing wall where people can challenge themselves vertically.

"It's got everything," says Thai.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Following is a list of programs offered through Campus Recreation:

YOUTH PROGRAMS

Activities include Parents Night Out, a boy's lacrosse clinic, flag football frenzy and birthday parties.

INTRAMURAL SPORTS

Sports include basketball, softball, soccer, volleyball, ultimate Frisbee, flag football, inner tube water polo, floor hockey, dodgeball, tennis, badminton and racquetball.

CRAFT CENTER PROGRAMS

Instruction in ceramics, woodworking, glass, flameworking, jewelry, screenprinting, welding, photography, arts and crafts, sewing, weaving and dyeing.

EQUESTRIAN PROGRAMS

Activities include trail rides, horse boarding and English and Western riding lessons. Employees can sign up children for youth lessons in riding.

AQUATICS

Offerings include lap swimming, aqua aerobics, adult and youth lessons.

OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

Programs include backpacking, rock climbing, CPR training, fly fishing, whitewater rafting and kayaking.

For more information and schedules on the above, see campusrecreation.ucdavis.edu/programs/index.php.