For the last two years, the YMCA chapters in Jacksonville and Tampa have competed to see who could rack up the most miles on treadmills.
They’ve each won one, so this year’s Treadmill Tuesday competition will be important for a number of reasons.
“The overall purpose is to encourage healthier lifestyles,” said Linda Llerna, Communications Director for YMCA Tampa. “Last year we won by 21 miles and we had a total of 1,630 residents complete 3,358 miles over the 12 hour event, the year prior we lost to Jacksonville by 176 miles so this year is the third year but it’s also the tie-breaker.”
During Tuesday’s competition, anyone can go to a Jacksonville YMCA and walk, jog or run on a treadmill for half an hour.
YMCA trainers will be logging in everyone’s time, and you can take part from home or another gym. Participants can take a picture of the treadmill dashboard showing how much they walked in 30 minutes and tag it with #TreadmillTuesday and @FirstCoastYMCA . The event starts at 6:30 am and runs until 6:30 pm.
“This event also happens to fall on Diabetes Alert Day so we are encouraging healthy living while promoting friendly competition,” Llerna said.
In 2016, according to the Florida Department of Health, 11.3% of adults in Duval County had been told they have diabetes. In Hillsborough County, it was 13.2%.
