Fitness Fridays Return to La Porte County

Fitness-Friday-LP-1Despite having to dress in layers to combat chilly temperatures and dodge a few raindrops, about 30 runners and walkers and six bicyclists turned out for the opening week of Fitness Fridays in La Porte. The weekly 5K, headed up by Mayor Blair Milo, is now in its second year.

“I am very excited that Fitness Fridays are starting,” Milo said. “It’s a little chilly start that we have this year, but even though it’s chilly out, we’ve got a great crowd here and some hardy souls that are going to ride, walk or run with us today.”

Milo expects the number of attendees to balloon as soon as the weather improves. Last year, over 150 people usually gathered for the run.

Fitness-Friday-LP-2“The really exciting thing is it’s only going to warm up from here, so I choose to be optimistic on that,” she said. “I think it’s the start of a great season.”

The purpose of the event is to help build a healthy community by encouraging community members to come together for a weekly exercise.

Cycling was a new addition to Fitness Fridays this year. Two new sponsors, General Insurance Services and the La Porte Savings Bank, were added to a mix that already included the City of La Porte, IU Health, the La Porte Hospital and the La Porte County YMCA.

Fitness-Friday-LP-3In addition to a chance to see the community members come together in support of good health, Milo also utilizes Fitness Fridays as a training mechanism. She was set to run a half marathon on Saturday and is prepping for a full marathon in June in Northern Michigan.

“It’s nice to be able to have this to supplement some of that training,” Milo said.

Fitness Fridays will take place at 5:15 p.m. every week through Oct. 11 outside the La Porte County Family YMCA on Michigan Avenue. In addition to the 5K, fun walks of one, two or three miles are also offered. Those who participate in 10 or more Fridays receive a free T-shirt.

Click here for more photos from Friday!

 Photos by Richard Warner, LaPorteCountyLife.com