• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Gym Stresses Positive With Holiday Toy Drive ; Positive Stress Workout Members Compete to Keep Off the Pounds and Donate Gifts to Needy Children.

Posted on: Friday, 24 December 2004, 00:00 CST

The members of Positive Stress Workout would travel quite a distance to help underprivileged children - 3,730 miles, to be exact.

That's the distance between Greensboro and the North Pole. The gym's members have "covered" that span several times by riding bikes, running, lifting weights, raking leaves and playing golf.

They are fueled by the desire to avoid gaining the average 11 pounds that many Americans gain during the holiday season.

The result, besides trim waistlines, is one heck of a toy drive.

The gym, owned by triathlete and personal trainer Joey Motsay, has hosted a relay each December for the past nine years, pitting members against each other in a "race" to the North Pole. Members earn one mile for every 10 minutes of workout.

The members work together as nine teams named after each of Santa's reindeer. The team that earns enough miles to reach the Pole first wins.

And a donation of toys gives teams the winning edge.

Members can bring one toy each day of the month, and when they do, they earn triple mileage for that day's workout. Bringing in a bike earns a member triple miles for the entire month.

Motsay says the contest isn't limited to the confines of the gym. He's awarded miles for everything from horseback riding to a day of shopping in New York City. The members who traveled there earned miles for the number of blocks they walked.

"The end goal is to keep people as active as possible in the month of December so they don't have that weight gain," Motsay said.

Eve Bacon, 50, has trained under Motsay's direction for 15 years and drives from her home in Winston-Salem to Positive Stress Workout on Northline Avenue.

She said the race makes working out easy at one of the busiest times of the year.

"He's creative and innovative," Bacon said of Motsay. She planned to bring in several toys and a bicycle. "He thinks up ways to motivate you, and that's part of the race."

"The first thing people put aside is exercise because they feel like that is a luxury thing," she said. "I've done the race every year, and every year, I've been so glad because you get to the end of Christmas time and you haven't gained 12 pounds and don't have to worry about losing it. You've done your work during the holidays."

Most of the toys collected will go to the Marine Corps' Toys for Tots drive, The Salvation Army and the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greensboro.

On Christmas Eve, Motsay and his own band of elves - his daughters - will take the remaining toys to the pediatric ward at Moses Cone Hospital.

For their hard work, what will team members who reach the North Pole first win?

They've already won, Motsay says.

"People ask, 'What do they get?' It's not what you get, it's what you give," he said. "By not giving, you would have not won. It's all about giving. Giving is living."

Contact Allison Perkins at 373-7157 or aperkins@news-record.com YES

Source: Greensboro News Record

More News in this Category