Guard Fit Challenge Meets the Jersey Shore

School Program Finds Success on the Boardwalk

By Scott J. Farrell

“Put down the funnel cake, drop and give me twenty!”

The New Jersey Army National Guard took Guard Fit Challenge to the Seaside Heights boardwalk over the summer, challenging passers-by to find out if they are as fit as a Citizen-Soldier.

After seeing how successful the fitness program has been in New Jersey high schools, the New Jersey Guard decided to test it out on the boardwalk to keep raising awareness of the National Guard during the typically slower summer months. The leads poured in.

With as many as 300 people taking the challenge on some days, the program drew more than 3,900 participants in 61 days and garnered local TV, radio and web-based media coverage, raising the National Guard’s profile in the community.

Beach Reach-Out

“With the excitement surrounding our presence on the beach, Guard Fit Challenge has been a lead-generating machine,” said Staff Sergeant Mike Biggins. As the marketing NCO at the time, he helped coordinate across organizations and teams to pull the summer program together.

The program launched on June 14, Flag Day, and continued through the summer, promoting fitness, and educating residents and visitors about the National Guard mission.

“Guard Fit Challenge has taken fitness from an inherent characteristic of the National Guard and encapsulated the important elements of conditioning and nutrition into one comprehensive and easy-to-understand program,” said Biggins. “We expanded the already popular school program to the summer months by using the challenge at camps and, on a grander scale, on the Seaside Heights boardwalk.”

The boardwalk version of Guard Fit Challenge gave participants the chance to test their push-up and sit-up skills during a two-minute drill and earn prizes like National Guard hats and towels, depending on their level of achievement.

Boardwalk Fun

The summer program was a motivating and exciting way to show the community what the National Guard is about, said New Jersey marketing NCOIC Sergeant First Class Melanie Rowton. “We’re the Guard. We’re fit. We’re here to show you something new, challenge you and have a good time.”

The Guard Fit Challenge booth was the first military promotion to be held on the boardwalk over an entire summer, said Rowton.

Seaside Heights welcomed the Guard Fit Challenge boardwalk promotion as part of its military-friendly initiative, the first of its kind in the state of New Jersey, according to Maria Maruca, executive director of the Seaside Heights Business Improvement District.

“Guard Fit Challenge really engaged a lot of the visitors to come over and take the challenge, and then gave them the opportunity to get some information about the National Guard and its mission,” said Maruca. And those who chose not to take the challenge stopped to watch the people who did, she added, generating more attention for the National Guard.

As the school year picked back up, educators took advantage of Guard Fit Challenge to kick-start their students’ commitment to fitness. In Lyndhurst, OH, the Ohio Army National Guard partnered with the Charles F. Brush High School physical education department to introduce the challenge to 120 incoming students.

Physical education teacher Kevin Flewellen invited the Ohio Guard to conduct the fitness challenge in conjunction with the President’s Challenge for his incoming freshman students. Sergeant First Class David Sollberger, Specialist Brian Laws and Private First Class Devon Porter conducted the three-day event, coordinated with assistance from Education Liaison Representative Jackie Dodge. Students participated in body composition and flexibility assessments, push-ups, sit-ups and a timed run.

Fitness First

“Guard Fit Challenge opened the school’s eyes to the fitness level of their students,” said Sollberger. “It also opened the eyes of the students themselves. Some performed the events for the very first time in their lives.”

“Our department wanted to start the year out with a fitness assessment and form a partnership with the Ohio Army National Guard,” said Flewellen. “The President’s Challenge was the perfect choice to align national physical education standards with the Army National Guard’s Guard Fit Challenge program.” The Ohio Guard will conduct end-of-school-year testing in April 2011 to measure students’ progress on the events.

[Published in Volume 8, Issue 1 of GX magazine: download PDF]