I picked up a flyer about this at the local ADA Expo last weekend.  I think it is a great thing that Gold’s Gym and the ADA are doing, so I wanted to help spread the word a bit.

On Saturday, November 7, 2009, Gold’s Gym will be hosting a “Burn-A-Thon Challenge”.  Every Gold’s Gym in the world (!) will be open to everyone, members and non-members, to allow people to come in and burn some calories.

There is more detailed information available at the ADA’s Burn-A-Thon page. The ADA & Gold’s Gym have set the bar high, pledging to burn 180 million calories in 24 hours, to show the need to “do a 180” on the diabetes epidemic.  Fitness professionals will be available to demonstrate equipment and answer questions.

This is a fund-raising initiative, and I’m not 100% sure about details on how the donations and pledging works.  In addition to this event, there are special membership rates for people affected by diabetes.

I like the idea of this, and as I have experienced, exercise is a huge part of feeling good.  It’s also just good for you, and is another powerful tool to have for managing blood sugars (even though managing blood sugars during exercise is one of the toughest things to do).

Speaking of the ADA, I recently received an e-mail from one of the communication managers telling me about a new site they are launching. It’s called stopdiabetes.com. I like what they are looking to do with this.  They are (finally) looking to more actively engage with those affected by diabetes.  They are looking to put a face on all of the lives they talk about working for.  This is a step in the right direction for them.  They’ve got a long way to go to win back the hearts of many of us living with type 1.  This is a good start.