Runners, walkers, and cyclists gathered on Friday in front of the La Porte YMCA to take part in Fitness Fridays with La Porte Mayor Blair Milo. Fitness Fridays offer La Porte community members the chance to join the mayor for a fun-filled 5K run, fun walks of 1, 2, or 3 miles and cycling routes from the YMCA on Michigan Avenue to Beechwood Golf Course, and back.
Fitness Fridays, now in their sixth year, has proved a great way to promote health and fitness while bringing the community together on a weekly basis.
“It’s become a really great event,” said Mayor Milo. “The ‘Y’ has been with us from the start and they’ve just been an amazing partner throughout. It’s been just tremendous to see this grow into not only a health event but also a community engagement event as well.”
Fitness Fridays kicked off on April 21st and will run through October 20th this year.
“It started out as a, sort of, idea that I thought, ‘I like to run, maybe somebody wants to come with me!’” Milo added. “It’s grown since there and we found out that not only did people want to get out and get active but it’s also been a way for people to engage with the city and get to know other people.”
Fitness Fridays has become a great success in La Porte with the help of organizations like the YMCA, as well as La Porte police and fire departments officials who work to close off Michigan Avenue and keep participants safe every Friday.
“This is our sixth year and this is really Mayor Milo’s baby,” said Elizabeth Downs from the La Porte YMCA. “She’s always been excited about promoting health and fitness, and this has become a great way to do that each week.”
Along with the YMCA, sponsoring Fitness Fridays every week are the City of La Porte, General Insurance Services, and La Porte Hospital.
“We all coordinate and get volunteers for the event together,” Downs said. “The YMCA provides the setup here at our location and the City of La Porte, General Insurance Services, and La Porte Hospital provides volunteers each week for registration. Then, each Friday at around 4:15 pm, Mayor Milo kicks things off.”
Dan Kaminski from General Insurance Services was helping to get people registered before participating in the 5K run/walk.
“This has become a really great community activity,” Kaminski said of Fitness Fridays. “There’s really something for everyone. You can run, you can walk, or you can bike the route.”
Each Fitness Fridays participant who registers receives a punch card. After they’ve received five punches they’ll receive a free t-shirt to commemorate their efforts to stay healthy with Mayor Milo!
To find out more go to: www.lpymca.org/
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