Bay Athletic Club celebrates Thinner Winners: 815 lbs. lost
ews Photo by Darby Hinkley Bay Athletic Club held its Thinner Winner celebration on Friday evening at Bay Urban in downtown Alpena. Above, BAC owner Trina Gray holds up a sign stating the total of 815 pounds lost across the 25 teams during the five-week challenge, while BAC Membership Director Amanda Freeland stands beside her and the winning team, Missing Leg Day, celebrates onstage behind her.
News Photo by Darby Hinkley Gray counts out the $1,000 cash prize as she hands it to the Missing Leg Day team members, who clearly have a great sense of humor. Pictured below, from left, are Amanda Freeland, Cody Wenzel, Trina Gray, Dr. Jean Omekanda, Jacquelyn Wenzel, Jeffrey Costain, and Sarah Costain. Owen Werth is not pictured.
ews Photo by Darby Hinkley Bay Athletic Club held its Thinner Winner celebration on Friday evening at Bay Urban in downtown Alpena. Above, BAC owner Trina Gray holds up a sign stating the total of 815 pounds lost across the 25 teams during the five-week challenge, while BAC Membership Director Amanda Freeland stands beside her and the winning team, Missing Leg Day, celebrates onstage behind her.
News Photo by Darby Hinkley Gray counts out the $1,000 cash prize as she hands it to the Missing Leg Day team members, who clearly have a great sense of humor. Pictured below, from left, are Amanda Freeland, Cody Wenzel, Trina Gray, Dr. Jean Omekanda, Jacquelyn Wenzel, Jeffrey Costain, and Sarah Costain. Owen Werth is not pictured.
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ALPENA -- Thinner Winner season concluded Friday at Bay Athletic Club. Community members on 25 teams lost 815 pounds and 933.25 inches in just five weeks, culminating with a celebration on Friday night at Bay Urban in downtown Alpena.
The team that lost the most overall was Missing Leg Day, winning the grand prize of $1,000 cash, which BAC owner Trina Gray counted out to them onstage during the finale. Team members included Sarah Costain, who lost 10 pounds, Jacquelyn Wenzel, who lost 10 pounds, Jeffrey Costain, who lost 23 pounds, Owen Werth, who lost 23 pounds, Dr. Jean Omekanda, who lost 31 pounds, and Cody Wenzel, who lost 34 pounds.
Rounding out the top five teams were The Slayer and the Thinners in second place, Beef in third, Amino Disrespect in fourth, and Excess Baggage in fifth.
Gray spoke to a room full of over 100 people who were excited about their weight loss and fitness journey. This year, 136 participated in Thinner Winner.
"It's just really fun to see groups of friends, coworkers, family members getting together and getting healthy together," Gray said.
She explained that she started Thinner Winner 15 years ago when a friend who also owns a health club challenged her to start a team weight loss competition, and he would, too. They talked pros and cons.
"The pro of it is getting people together for accountable health and fitness," Gray said. "The con is to make it a radical, rapid, unhealthy, non sustainable weight-loss journey. And we recognized that. The pros of getting people together to create healthier habits outweigh the cons."
So she and her friend made a bet, and he went to work in Indianapolis, while Gray hit the ground running in Alpena.
"He ended up with 14 teams, and our first competition had 42 teams," Gray said. "It's really exciting."
She encouraged everyone to keep going in their healthy habits to see even more results.
"The success story isn't just getting up on stage and getting your certificate," Gray said. "The success story is what you do tomorrow. The success story is where you are after the holidays. I want you to be the group of people that commits to the longer-term commitment to your health."
She added that no matter where you start from, your health and fitness journey is an accomplishable goal, at your own pace, and it helps to have a support system around you, cheering you on.
"It's like a mountain to climb, sometimes, depending on where you are in life," Gray said. "We have some people who are in good health and keeping it going, we have some people up against some health battles. Maybe it feels like a mountain to climb, and you don't know where to start. I hope this first competition five weeks felt like you got to the top of your first hill, and you're really proud of that, and you keep going."