100-Mile Aqua Challenge

If you made the annual New Year’s resolution to get in better shape but don’t know where to start, pick yourself up and head to the Eugene YMCA for the 100-Mile Aqua Challenge. It starts Jan. 10, and while it is a year-long challenge, it’s not for the faint of heart. If you swim or aqua-jog 100 miles over the course of a year and win the coveted sweatshirt at the end, then you will have gone almost five times farther than the width of the English Channel. You don’t have to be a YMCA member to join, and any pool or lake (if you’re brave enough to try that this time of year) will work. “We are still working out the system itself for tracking the miles,” says Beth Casper of the Y, “but it will either be through our Y app or through our website, and, in any case, it will be easy to log them and send them to us.” No word yet on whether sloshing through miles of rain on streets and sidewalks counts as mileage.

The Eugene YMCA’s 100-Mile Aqua Challenge is Jan. 10, 2022, through Jan. 15, 2023. Cost is $15 for YMCA members, $25 for nonmembers. Register at EugeneYmca.org. Email Sabrina@EugeneYmca.org for more information.