By By KEVIN SCOTT CUTLER
Lifestyles & Features Editor
A group of local health-minded individuals recently challenged themselves, and each other, to take part in a half marathon held in Greenville.
Run for the Booty was the culmination of a 12-week program initiated by Austin Thomas and Tara Carter of Fitness Unlimited in Washington. Thomas is owner and Carter is the group fitness manager at the facility.
“We had 40 people to do the program and 26 of them finished the race. Four of them placed,” Thomas said. “And we had six others from the club finish the race who didn’t do the program.”
The program began in late July, according to Carter.
“Throughout it we did clinics on nutrition, strength, stretching and yoga,” Carter said. “Every week we met on Saturday at 6 a.m. on the waterfront and did group runs together.”
The training sessions targeted advanced and intermediate runners, as well as beginning walkers.
“It was pretty intensive training,” Thomas said.
But it was worth it, he added, when the group decided to put their newfound fitness to the test by participating in the half marathon, which amounted to 13.1 miles.
“With hard work and perseverance you can set goals for yourself and accomplish them,” said Carter, who has been involved in the fitness industry for over 16 years. “People came away from this 12-week program knowing that with determination you can do anything.”
Carter kept a journal of the group’s progress, which can be read at tarasrunningblog.blogspot.com.
“I have personally felt so accountable to the group that I have felt more motivated to get up in the morning and perform at my best,” Carter wrote in one entry. “Getting up early on a Saturday morning would not be so easy if I wasn’t meeting a group of my peers! I hope everyone feels as committed to this group as I do.”
Carter said she doesn’t classify the program as a weight loss initiative.
“It’s really more a process of figuring out your body, what to eat and when to eat,” she said. “Food is a fuel, and you learn what you put in your body helps you do what works for you. People learn about the good foods to eat throughout this process. It’s fitness-based, which is huge.”
The response to the program was so positive that Fitness Unlimited intends to make it an annual event, Thomas said.
“I think we’ll have a lot of response,” said Thomas, who admitted he wasn’t exactly convinced when Carter first approached him with the idea. “A majority of them are planning to do it again the next time. I’ve been more motivated because of this.”
Along with Thomas and Carter, members of the Fitness Unlimited “Team in Training” were Jim Clarke, Eawin Castro, Freddie Cherry, Keri Parker, Emma Holscher, Mac Jones, Christina Jackson, Jan Rowe, Russell Davenport, Cindy Edwards, Robin Clarke, Jenna Riggs, Cindy Cherry, Catherine Patrick, Glenn Crisp, Kathryn Hamilton, Stephanie Grimes, Dana Spencer, Nancy Rowe, Emily Atkins, Randy Moore, Mary Martin Moore, Edie Findley, Pam Shadle, Kenneth Peedin, Allison Crisp and Ashley Edge.