University Times

Pitt employees and their weight race teammates lost nearly a ton over the past 10 weeks in the “New Year, New Race, New You” challenge that ended April 10.

About half of the 587 people who enrolled in the third annual Fitness for Life weight race completed the program by participating both in the initial and final weigh-ins. Together, they lost a collective 1,518.5 pounds; others who self-reported their weight but did not attend the final official weigh-in dropped 469.27 pounds, for a total loss of 1,987.77 pounds, or an average of 3.39 pounds per person.

The 2010 weight race based the target goal of weight maintenance or a five- or 10-pound loss on each participant’s body mass index.

According to weight race organizers, eight participants lost more than 20 pounds, with the top loser dropping 28.4 pounds.  For those completing the race, the average weight loss was about 5 pounds per participant.

Winners were determined by awarding points for reaching weight-loss or weight-maintenance goals, with a random drawing breaking ties. Individual winners and winning team members received a $50 gift card. One hundred-nine people participated as individuals; 201 joined a team.

There were a total of 15 individual winners. For privacy reasons, names of individual winners were not announced.

Pittsburgh campus team winners are: Tubby Techies, Bows & Ties, Dental Divas, OCR/CTSI Rocks, Triple Threat, Arnold’s Athletes, BellasBuddies, The Good And Plenty’s Redux, Appetite for Reduction and SCRC.

Regional winners were Pitt-Bradford’s Outreach Overeaters, Pitt-Greensburg’s Losin’ It, Pitt-Johnstown’s Queens and a Joker, Pitt-Titusville’s Fitness Rebels and the Mechanicsburg satellite location’s Angels.

Registered weight racers can view the complete standings by logging into the weight race site at www.hr.pitt.edu/fitness/HealthInitiatives/app/teamBoard.aspx.

Looking ahead, said John Kozar, director of Benefits, one or two walking campaigns similar to last summer’s “Reach the Beach” are being planned.

He noted that although the weight races have been well received by those who participate, overall numbers have dwindled since the initial campaign.

Rather than continuing to do the same thing year after year, Kozar said, “We have to rethink where we are and where we’re going, down the road. We believe that these type of campaigns are good but we have to look at what we can do to improve employee engagement.”

—Kimberly K. Barlow