Story and photos by Tamas Mondovics
For the second time in a row, the Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA waged a friendly competition with Jacksonville’s YMCA of Florida’s First Coast, which once again resulted in much more than just logging numbers.
The wager was forged between Tampa Y CEO Tom Looby and First Coast Y CEO Eric Mann.
When it was over, the 30-minute treadmill workout known as Treadmill Tuesday Challenge, boasted of approximately 3,210 Floridians amassing nearly 6,700 miles all to encourage healthier lifestyles and to inspire community members to become more physically active.
While last year’s event went to its rival, Tampa Y was pleased to announcing its win this year, and reclaimed its bragging rights. The victory also gives testimony to the Y’s role in and support of the community’s desire to pursue healthy living.
Based upon the agreement Mann is now expected to wear the Tampa Bay Bucs team jersey for social media interaction.
By the numbers, an estimated 1,630 Tampa Bay residents surpassed First Coast by about 21 miles after completing nearly 3,358 total miles during the 12-hour event. First Coast’s, 1,580 residents logged 3,337 miles.
Of the 3,210 total participants, 94 joined by uploading a post-workout photo of treadmill dashboard displaying the total distance, tagging @TampaYMCA and using #TreadmillTuesday.
Area Y facilities joining the challenge included the North Brandon Family YMCA, which boasted of 91 participants logging in a total of 206.87 miles. The Campo Family YMCA saw 224 participants log 456.52 miles.
“The remarkable turnout of the Treadmill Tuesday Challenge has once again demonstrated the importance of community involvement in improving Florida’s health and well-being,” Looby said. “
For more information, please visit www.tampaymca.org.
