The Icelandic Roots Fitness Challenge 2021 was a big success. Our most popular mission was the Ring Road route, with 118 participants while on the second and shorter route, 19 people traveled the Golden Circle.
Altogether there were 25 teams ranging from 2 to 10 people and 21 individuals who walked, hiked, biked, swam, or ran an amazing 20, 378 miles / 32,795 kilometers. What made this 8-week challenge different from other fitness challenges was that this was a virtual tour of Iceland, using the My Virtual Mission platform. So when you entered your distances into your app or computer, it was as if you were traveling the Ring Road or the Golden Circle. There were 30 different milestones for the Ring Road and 13 for the Golden Circle. When the participants reached these milestones, they were sent emails containing a photograph and information about that location. It could be about historical events or saga sites, churches, important people, waterfalls, or emigration centers.
We created a private Facebook page where people could share photographs where they hiked, rowed, or biked and people could provide encouragement to each other. As each individual or team completed the challenge, they were celebrated for their accomplishment.
At the end of the challenge, seven participants were randomly drawn and received a box full of Icelandic bling - Icelandic flags, a book about the Yule Boys, Icelandic Roots pens, bags, a coffee cup, and more. Congratulations to our winners:
Beverly Dalton, Team Snorri Coreena Muise, Team Fjolskylda d’Arcy Gamble, Sole Sisters Julie Hall-den-Boer, Team INLUS Nolan Green, Fjola’s Team Stephan Davis, Team Little Walks Stephanie Coleman, The Byron Clan.
Our next fitness challenge will be in 2022. Stay tuned for more information as it gets closer and we hope you will join us for the Icelandic Roots Fitness Challenge 2022. Who knows what adventure in Iceland awaits you next year?
A very special thank you to Becky for setting up the mission, creating the milestones with her team, and keeping track of the 2021 My Virtual Mission. This was very fun and we received a lot of great feedback. The Fitness Challenge is the only fundraiser IR has done and with the profits, more scholarships and grants can be awarded. Thanks to all who participated!
Link to the entire newsletter for 13 Sep 2021 - Fitness, Strongmen, CrossFit, and more