Monday, September 24, 2012

#LoseAMarathon - The Final Weigh-In!

Back in June, my friend Heather and I thought up this little weight loss idea to "lose a marathon" in pounds. I had lost almost 30lbs this past spring, but was feeling the laziness coming on with summer. I really wanted to stay focused and lean down over the summer to enhance my fall races. And Heather is running her first 26.2 in October and knew it would be easier if she weighed less. So the Marathon Weight Loss Challenge was born... and over 1000 people signed on to participate. Oh, holy crap!

Over the past 13 weeks, it has been a period of trial, frustration and success for participants. I was among the frustrated. Two pounds per week doesn't sound so hard, right? I fell short of my goal (big time). The more I pushed and weighed the same, the more frustrated I got. The busy days of summer came on in full force and I quit calorie counting... and that's when the weigh loss completely stopped. I ended -8 lbs for the challenge, which is more than I've ever been able to do over the summer months. I'm not pleased or satisfied, but I'll take it. I learned a lot about myself (and my weight loss struggles) through the mini weekly challenges, which focused more on the psychological process of losing weight rather than physical exercise.

I am please to announce these "LOSERS" who hit both the 26.2 and 13.1 levels of the challenge. There were many on the list who were a mere fraction of a pound from making the final clubs. 
Congratulations to everyone! 
Together, we lost over 3500 pounds!

* To quality for the final Marathon and Half Club, you had to report back your final weigh-in.

Many have already asked, "Can we do it again?" The answer in short is yes, but after a short break... maybe the New Year? But DON'T YOU STOP! It's Monday morning and without breaking from routine, I got up and weighed myself. <sigh> Did you?

* PRIZE WINNERS *
I have a variety of prizes left over, so I made up some goodie packs for a couple lucky winners. Please email me at runwithjess@comcast.net with your address to claim your prize. Thanks!

Maria Quezada-Jensen
Mindy Still
Bridgette Warner

18 comments:

  1. Congrats to all the winners!
    I didn't accomplish my goal, but it definitely kept me on track through the difficult Summer months and I'd love to try again! :)

    Thanks for hosting this Jess!

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  2. Congrats to all the losers!!!! What a great job!!!

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  3. Thank you Jess!!! I am hoping for another marathon by the end of the year and then I will be at my goal weight. Makes running (kind of) a lot easier on the hips and knees. Yes, I did weigh this morning too!!
    Thank you for all of your inspiration!

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  4. Congratulations to all winners. I lost a total of 31 lbs while participating in the challenge. However I was unable to weigh in every Money after I started work. But Im soooo happy you started this challenge.

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  5. Way to go to all of you! That's a lot of hard work showing with all those pounds lost.

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  6. Wow! What a cool idea and fun way to lose weight with support from other people. 3,500 pounds is huge!

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  7. Congrats everyone!
    Jess... I did... I weighed myself today :D
    Thanks for all the inspiration! You're a star!

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  8. YEP....Weighed in this morning after a week at Disney. Only gained 3 pounds, and knew that it was due to the adult drinks and the desserts. Lot of time to get this off. Thanks for the accountability. Can't wait for the next challenge.

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  9. Jess, you are so awesome!.. This has been a huge challenge for me.. I fell way short of my goal, but I started fresh again yesterday.. I will look forward to the next one for sure!.. Thank you so much for all you do for the running and fitness community.. Love ya kiddo!

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  10. Congrats to all the winners and losers!! Had a great time just couldn't make it happen for myself. I maintained though so it's all good. :)

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  11. I am reviewing each week and doing the mini challenges (since when I did those I actually lost). I decided to start the first week of fall, this Saturday, and go until the first day of winter. That gives me 13 weeks and then a break for Christmas. I am happy to have lost 10 lbs and even though I have 70 more to go the support group you have created is wonderful. I will post each Saturday (the official Weight Watchers scale number) and we will see how far I can go. Thank you so much for the idea that developed into a great arena for encouragement.

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  12. I didn't participate in this but the results are amazing! Congratulations to all the "losers"! You did amazing!

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  13. Yea!!! I'm a winner!! I never win anything lol While I didn't end up losing the full marathon, I did end up losing a half marathon plus a little extra. I'm SOOOOO thrilled with that and am going to keep going. I feel so motivated and invigorated and knowing that I'm doing something good for me and my body!

    Congrats to everyone!
    Bridgette

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  14. Congrats to all participants!!

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  15. Thanks for doing this! I found out about it too late to join in, but I was losing weight alongside you guys, and went from 172lbs to 144.6lbs in those 13 weeks! It was great motivation to stick with the weight loss, REALLY didn't think I'd hit 26 pounds, but there ya go!

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