An energetic crowd of over 300 participants at the Fort Forum on April 20 helped set a new world record.
The record has yet to be officially recognized for the largest 30-minute fitness circuit workout, as the film footage, photographs and other documentation will first be reviewed by the Guinness Book of World Record officials, but the numbers were high enough.
The event, which was initiated by Jessica Anderson in Duncan, B.C., was locally supported by Julie Leggat, who organized Fort participants for the multi-venue world record attempt.
“I couldn’t have been happier with the amount that we got,” said Leggat. She said it was a really positive experience for all involved and it was “really neat to see” the really young participants helping out and doing so well.
Students from Sowchea Elementary had been practicing leading up to the event, and there were some really young classes participating.
The event took place in the Fort Forum, with live video feeding from the Cowichan Sportsplex on Vancouver Island as well. There were volunteers walking through the participants, monitoring the event and recording details for the official status.
Participants were divided into five groups and circulated five stations, with station leaders demonstrating each station exercises from a stage in the centre of the arena.
The participants then worked out at each station, moving and taking breaks according to the music, all of which was put together by Cam McCormick for the event.
The previous record for the largest 30-minute fitness circuit workout was only for a single venue and had a total of 317 people.
The Cowichan Sportsplex saw 1,674 participants, and there were nine other satellite locations for the event, so the final numbers could be much higher. For more photos of the event go to the Caledonia Courier Facebook page.