NSA Mechanicsburg Fitness Center Members Stride to Succeed, Journey 200K Miles

MECHANICSBURG, Pa. (NNS) -- Nearly 100 civilians and Sailors on board Naval Support Activity (NSA) Mechanicsburg completed a fitness challenge Aug. 12, which allowed participants to travel almost 200,000 miles across the U.S. without leaving the gym.

From June 18 to Aug. 12, "Striding to Succeed," created by the fitness center's training staff, incentivized gym-goers to log in hours of exercise which were converted to miles and charted on a map. Participants exercised at the gym and when finished a staff member to enter their time on a chart.

"The time would be logged in 15 minute increments with one hour equaling 125 miles. Every Friday I would come in the morning and update each person's time on the chart and move their '[running] shoe marker' along their designated route on the giant U.S. map above the chart," said fitness consultant Mike De Rosa.

Each route was 3,000 miles long, equating to 24 hours of exercise, and had multiple tourist attractions along each route, including Niagara Falls, the Space Needle, Disney World, the Grand Canyon. Other points of interest were a little off the beaten path: Foamhenge, The Bottle Cap Museum and the Giant Popeye Statue.

At the end of the eight-week period the mileage of each participant was totaled, which qualified him or her for one of the six prize brackets ranging from T-shirts to water bottles.

"Traveling 197,000 miles is the same as going around the equator 7.9 times, flying 82 percent of the way to the moon, or running 788,000 laps around a regulation size track," De Rosa said, adding that 84 people participated in the program and 30 people reached the 3,000 mile goal. "That's very impressive."

Aside from the tangible benefits of exercise, the Striding to Succeed program helped to build a rapport between the gym members and its staff and also allowed for a more open forum to discuss the member's current and future exercise and lifestyle goals.

"It was great to see the enthusiasm and added motivation among the members as they came in to log their time," noted Felicia Newbury, the base's fitness and wellness director.

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