Photos courtesy of Giovanna Ferraro.

On Saturday, Downtown’s tenacious neighborhood gym, Groundwork Fitness, kicked off their “Keep LBC Fit” campaign with a free and family-friendly Interactive Obstacle Course event at Lincoln Park. Members of the community came out to make an attempt at the course and discover new and fun ways to live an active lifestyle. Over 100 participants, children and adults, participated in the event.

“It was awesome to see parents participate with their kids,” said Giovanna Ferraro, owner and founder of Groundwork Fitness. “All in all people had fun, moved, prizes were given out and great snacks from Fresh & Easy. I couldn’t have asked for a better team of volunteers to make this happen. Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez and her staff 100 percent backed this event, which made it that much more successful. We all did our part to Keep LBC Fit on this day.”

As part of the campaign’s intent to get Long Beach residents to move more often, to show locals that exercise should not be a chore, but should indeed contain some sort of fun, Groundwork Fitness held a photography contest that encouraged anyone interested to take a picture of someone moving, in one way or another.

Mother Katie Ishizuka took the winning photo of her son, Frederick Stevens IV, attempting a handstand at the beach alongside Bayshore Ave. in Belmont Shore. Chosen out of 25 submissions, Ishizuka, who says she is not a professional photographer and was just shooting for fun, was presented her award at Saturday’s event.

Winning photo by Katie Ishizuka.

“It was chosen because, from my perspective as a trainer and fitness guru… there is nothing more inspiring than a child exercising, enjoying it and with perfect form,” said Ferraro. This kid inspires me to do yoga and that’s exactly what Keep LBC Fit is all about. It’s so empowering.”

Ferraro continued, “It was extremely hard to choose. It came down to three and we struggled to pick the winner. Ultimately it came down to inspiration; who made us want to go outdoors and move!”

Her photo, perhaps, draws attention to the fact that staying fit starts at a young age and has little to do with exercise sometimes, and a lot more to do with enjoying the outdoors. Finding what works for you is perhaps the most important part about it. As Ferraro would say, touching upon the Keep LBC Fit campaign’s mission, any and all movement is accepted.

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