Walk/Run to end of 2009 Corporate Cup

The last competitive event in the 2009 Grffin Hospital Community Corporate Cup will be tonight, and for many it will reaffirm the personal gains that they have made over the last few months. Traditionally, the last even in the Cup series has been a 2K walk, but YMCA staffer Chris Phipps suggested that a more fitting conclusion to the competition might be a longer walk and an optional 5K road race that would be a more realistic test of the gains made by participants in the Corporate Cup. The Y has held a weekend 5K road race in September, but they decided to make it a weeknight race and to incorporate the Corporate Cup event as part of the larger race.

Close to 100 Corporate Cup participants will be part of the YMCA Sunset Race sponsored by Naugatuck Savings Bank to be held tonight at Prendergast School in Ansonia. Thirty-four of them will be runners and the rest will be walkers. Chris' original concept was aimed more specifically at Corporate Cup participants who were involved with the Healthy Team competition. Participants earn points for building a healthier life style during the course of the four months when the Healthy Team events are held. They have had the opportunity to have a free membership at the Y, participate in free weekly stress reduction classes, eat 3 free healthy meals prepared by the chefs at Griffin Hospital and keep logs of their diet and exercise routines. They were pre-tested in March and have already been post-tested to see how their health has improved. Results will not be announced until the awards ceremony on June 23, but many of them will have a chance to show just how much they have improved tonight in the run or the walk.

Our own United Way Health Team participants, Pat Tarasovic and Laurel Vicidomino, will also be in action tonight.

Having participated in the Healthy Team competition in the past, I personally can attest to the benefits. There's also something to be said to have everyone in your office looking over your shoulder to make sure that you are staying on track by eating correctly, exercising and earning all the points possible to push your team up in the standings!

We'll have all of the results from the race on-line tomorrow, and the final Corporate Cup results will be available following the Awards Reception on June 23. In the meantime, we'll have to have Pat and Laurel describe their efforts this year on the blog!!