Start stretching — the fourth annual Mayors’ Fitness Challenge between Vienna, Falls Church, and the City of Fairfax begins next month, and registration is now open.
The friendly competition started in 2021 to encourage residents to get outside and exercise at a time when the pandemic kept many indoors. The challenge tracks how much each town exercises, and at the end, the fittest community wins.
Participants can run, walk, swim, play a match of pickleball — any sort of physical exercise counts. Those taking part will keep track of how long they worked out, then input their times into an online form.
At the end of the fitness challenge, each community’s numbers will be added and averaged, and the town with the highest average wins the title of “Most Fit Community.”
While Falls Church won the title in the inaugural event, Vienna has taken home the crown for the past two years. Last year, Vienna’s 195 participants completed 466,142 minutes of exercise for an average of 2,390.47 minutes per person. Fairfax followed with an average of 2,213.73 and Falls Church finished with an average of 2,045.3.
The Mayors’ Fitness Challenge spans eight weeks, from March 16 to May 11. Registration is open now in all three localities and will remain open through the duration of the contest.
It’s free to participate, but you can choose to purchase a little something to represent your town. In Vienna, participants can sign up to get a T-shirt for $16; in Falls Church, it’s $5 for a T-shirt; and in Fairfax, it’s $5 to receive a hat with registration.
You must either live or work in Falls Church, Fairfax, or Vienna to participate, and registration is required.
Feature image, stock.adobe.com
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