Vienna Tops Falls Church, Fairfax In Mayors’ Fitness Challenge

VIENNA, VA — The results are in, and Vienna topped the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church in the 2022 Mayors’ Fitness Challenge.

The second annual Mayors’ Fitness Challenge was a friendly competition between the three localities to encourage residents to track their exercise. From March 19 to May 7, participants were asked to log their exercise minutes to help their community win the challenge. Participants could walk, bike, hike or do any physical exercise they preferred.

Vienna won through 132 participants who collectively tracked 238,437 exercise minutes, or 3,973.95 hours. The participants represented different age groups, from 4 years old to 91 years old. Participants recorded activities such as walking, pickleball, weightlifting, gardening and basketball.

"Our community always rallies to a cause, and the Mayors’ Fitness Challenge was a great way to get the whole family involved to help achieve a collective goal and get some exercise at the same time," said Vienna Mayor Linda Colbert in a statement. "I’m so proud of the way our community embraced this healthy, friendly competition."

Falls Church took second place, while Fairfax came in third.

"Finishing first wasn’t easy as both Falls Church and Fairfax also finished strong and were very worthy competitors!" said Colbert.

The three localities began the Mayors' Fitness Challenge in 2021 to encourage people to get outside and exercise after the COVID-19 pandemic kept people at home. The Mayor's Fitness Challenge trophy will be passed from last year's winner, the City of Falls Church, to the Town of Vienna.

The trophy (and bragging rights) will remain in Vienna, at least until next year's competition.