EVERETT, WA -- Naval Station (NAVSTA) Everett held its annual Fitness Challenge Week May 7-10 to promote health and fitness in new ways to all sailors.
"You don’t have to be the best swimmer or the fastest runner to participate in some of these events,” says NAVSTA Everett’s Fitness Coordinator Julia Krassin, who set up the events. “We put a fun spin on it: balance and mostly team work."
The first event of the week, The Average Joe Triathlon, drew more than 50 participants. The goal of the triathlon was to finish the event, yet it still provided the more fit athletes a competitive element, Krassin says.
Master-of-Arms 1st Class (SW) Jose Cruzalvarez set a goal in the challenge to improve his running and bicycling times.
"Overall, I just wanted to finish and represent the 30-and-older sailors and let them see that they still have what it takes to finish a triathlon,” says Cruzalvarez.
Sailors participated in three other events: the Island Pool Relay, Backwoods Olympics and a dodgeball tournament. The week-long event concluded with a health fair aimed at providing information booths to promote healthy living.