Crunch Sends Members to the Amazon

Crunch Fitness has partnered with UVU, an ultra-marathon apparel company, to host the Crunch UVU Games. Crunch Fitness will send four winners (two members and their trainers) to compete in the 2012 UVU Jungle Marathon, which will be held in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest from October 4-13, 2012.

“UVU approached Crunch looking for a way to introduce their brand of high-tech performance apparel to the U.S.,” said Alexis Kendall, the marketing director for Crunch Fitness. “It also doubled as a way for us to see who was truly fit enough to race 150 miles through the Amazon — it is said to be one of the toughest [challenges] in the world!”

The winners will be chosen during one of four “Game Nights,” held in September in New York, N.Y., Los Angeles, Calif., San Francisco, Calif., and Miami, Fla. The Game Nights are designed to test overall strength, power, endurance, agility and speed. The winning member and trainer in each city will represent Crunch Fitness in Brazil at the UVU Jungle Marathon.

Crunch Fitness developed a specialized training program to prepare participating members and trainers for the UVU Jungle Marathon, conditioning their bodies and minds to face “demanding trail and mud runs, extreme heat and treacherous conditions.” The marathon will be run over the course of seven days, six stages and 242 kilometers (150.372 miles).

“The goal of the challenge is to allow members to realize that all the hard work and dedication to their fitness goals has paid off,” explained Nasario Mejia, the vice president of fitness for Crunch. “The challenge is not only physically demanding, but also mentally challenging as well… In addition, it gives the trainers a new challenge to push themselves physically and mentally, while doing the same for the member they are working with.”

Members must work out with the personal of their choice for at least eight sessions prior to the Game Nights in order to qualify. For more information, visit www.crunch.com/games.

By Rachel Zabonick