The Dubai Fitness Challenge set feats, broke records
dubai — They say it takes 30 days to form a habit, and that seems to be true of the Dubai Fitness Challenge (DFC).
What took off as a 30-day programme to kickstart residents into making the lifestyle move towards exercise and fitness, ended up becoming the motivation of a lifetime for many.
The DFC also set and broke many worlds records. At the end of the initiative started by the Dubai Crown Prince, participants had registered 2.52 billion moves and broken 15 world records.
The various records ranged from sorting out coloured balls to pulling a heavy aircraft, while those that broke already existing records included the largest wheelchair race and the most jumping-jacks performed in just half a minute.
But the biggest feat came from challenge the Dubai Police, which alone broke three records, the most incredible one involving 56 officers of the force pulling an Emirates plane weighing 302.68 tonnes, for a distance of 100 metres.
The most fun record was set by Italian national Nicola Spessato, who holds the record for the “fastest time to sort 30 coloured balls with one hand”, in just 15.159 seconds. Among competing corporates, Galadari Brothers bagged the number two slot in the challenge in Category B (with 6,000+ employees) among 259 companies registered for the challenge, coming second only to Du.
Age or physical ability was no bar to those aspiring to fitness. Jordanian-Spanish resident Laith Zabadi, all of 11, competed in the XDubai X3 Junior Triathlon — doing running, swimming and biking — at Kite Beach on November 17. Seventy-year-old Indian visitor Jabbar Poonawaala participated at the Safa Park events.
Salem Al Mehairi, a 19-yearold with cerebral palsy, took part in the challenge, as did 15-yearold Ciara Moffett, also born with cerebral palsy. She said fitness is not a temporary challenge but a lifelong commitment for her. Overall, for Dubai residents who took up everything from mall walking to parkour, it was the dawn of a new age in fitness.
reporters@khaleejtimes.com