BRISTOL, Tenn. – With a new name, fewer requirements and more opportunities to take part, Bristol’s Health Challenge – formerly known as the Corporate Challenge – is expected to draw a number of participants when it kicks off in September, organizers said Tuesday.
“We want as many people in the community taking part as possible,” said Chris Ayers, CEO of the Bristol Family YMCA – the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard facility that sponsors the annual fitness competition.
“We want the Health Challenge to go from being an eight-week event in Bristol every year to a movement of healthy living that sweeps across Bristol every day of the year,” Ayers said.
During this year’s challenge, groups of 15-member teams will battle each other to lose the most combined weight – and record the most 30-minute workouts – between Sept. 11 and Nov. 6.
But in a departure from the past three competitions, which were limited to area businesses who put together 10-member teams, this year’s event is open to any group able to recruit 15 folks committed to losing weight and exercising regularly.
In other changes, team members aren’t required to do workouts at the Y during the competition period – and the entry fee has been reduced to $20 a person, the lowest since the effort began in 2007.
“We wanted to make this about challenging a whole community to make Bristol a healthier city,” Ayers said about the decision to expand the program beyond businesses.
“We want churches, civic clubs, neighborhood groups, Y members, non-Y members, as many groups as possible, to get involved,” he said. “So we’re trying to remove as many obstacles as we can that might stop them from doing so.”
During last year’s challenge – won by Strongwell Corp. in Bristol, Va. – 46 teams took part and lost more than 1,800 pounds.“The challenge is about raising awareness in our community about our need to move towards better health,” said Phil Timp, co-leader of Bristol’s Pioneering Healthier Communities effort, part of a national campaign to reduce obesity.
Teams can register through Sept. 4.
For more information, contact the Bristol Family YMCA at (423) 968-3133.
rbrown@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2512
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