Webmaster logs over a million steps!
Richard Hubbard, a Housatonic Community College Webmaster, stepped into fourth place in last year’s event.
There are two teams from Housatonic Community College that are competing in this year’s United Healthcare Fitness Walk-A-Thon. When the competition gets underway here Sept. 16, last year’s fourth-place finisher will once again step up to the challenge.
Richard Hubbard, a Housatonic Community College webmaster from Torrington, stepped into fourth place in last-year’s event by logging over a million steps. This year, he hopes to place even higher. Hubbard is on the HCC Hawks team, the other team from HCC is the Red Hot Chili Steppers.
“For me, fitness is a matter of life and health,” says Hubbard, who turned to fitness challenges like this as a way to lose weight. “Thirteen months ago, with the state’s employee health enhancement program about to start, I went to my doctor for a checkup. He told me I had to lose 120 pounds.”
Hubbard pursued that goal with a vengeance. He joined two wellness challenges at the Torrington YMCA, in addition to last year’s United Healthcare event. “I also changed my diet completely,” Hubbard said. “I cut down on sodium – I almost had to go on blood pressure medicine ‑ and a lot of sugars, and I started eating a lot of fruit and vegetables.”
The end result? He dropped 133 pounds.
In the process, he became a fitness believer. A year ago, he took over a Housatonic newsletter, adding a strong health and wellness section. Along with a friend, he established a health-and-wellness blog, healthylivingct.com to help spread the word about fitness.
The Fitness Challenge runs from Sept. 16 - Nov.10, Hubbard, who says he’s ready for the challenge, will be joined by a team of colleagues that includes HCC President Anita T. Gliniecki of Monroe.
“I already walk 10,000 steps each day,” he said. “But I’ll increase it to 12,000 to15,000 during the challenge. Hopefully, this will help me step up to a higher finish.”
For more information about the Fitness Challenge, visit brbc.org or contact Karen Delvecchio (203-212-9316, ) or Jocelyn Paoletta (475-282-3579, .).