10:10am | The 5th annual Southern California-wide 12-week team weight-loss contest called “Long Beach Losers” begins Saturday, Aug. 27 from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm to 8:00 p.m.with official weigh-ins at the Belmont Athletic Club at 4918 E. 2nd St in Belmont Shore. Between 600 and 800 participants are expected.
In 2010, Long Beach was named the 17th “fattest city in the U.S.” by Men’s Fitness magazine. In 2009, Long Beach was also in the top-25 list. In response, Long Beach community member Justin Rudd and his nonprofit Community Action Team are spearheading the “Long Beach Losers” challenge for the 5th consecutive year.
Teams of five will weigh-in with volunteers on each of the 12 Saturdays following the initial weigh-in date. The contest keeps track of each individual and each team’s overall weight loss percentages from week to week.
Each 5-person team will choose their own team name. At each of the weekly Saturday weigh-ins, participants will put $5 in the “jackpot,” and may be fined an additional $2 for each pound (or fraction thereof) that they might have gained or if their weight stays the same from week to week. Some pre-registered team names last year included: ” Lost in Weight,” “I Pity the Food,” “Baby Got Back” and “All That and No Bag of Chips.”
Although organizers won’t know exactly how many teams and individuals are in the competition until the initial weigh-in, more than 800 participants were in the contest last year. Last year’s jackpot reached more than $49,000.
The pot will be disbursed back to the overall teams and individual losers at the end of the 85-day contest. The final weigh-in will be just days before Thanksgiving, and a celebration and awards ceremony is planned after the contest ends.
Up-to-date stats of this year’s contestants can be viewed here.
For more information about Long Beach Losers, please visit www.LongBeachLosers.com.