Dubai: Did you miss last year’s fitness challenge initiated by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai? Well, make sure you get your shoes and sports attire ready this time, as the 30-day festival that seeks to turn the emirate into the world’s fitness capital is set to kick off again soon.
Following its successful run last year, the Dubai Fitness Challenge is returning next month for another round of action-packed activities, it has been confirmed.
“We’re in with even more action, excitement and entertainment,” organisers said in an announcement on social media.
The citywide month-long festival will run from October 19 to November 17, 2018.
Dubai’s crown prince, who also heads the Executive Council of the Dubai government and Dubai Sports Council, unveiled last year the fitness program, which seeks to motivate UAE residents to take up physical activity and put the emirate on the global map as the most active city.
The goal is to encourage residents to exercise every day for at least 30 minutes.
“We are very keen to spread a culture of fitness since we strongly believe that making physical activity and sports a part of their daily routines will help people significantly improve the quality of their lives,” Hamdan said last year.
The previous challenge attracted nearly one million participants and about 90 per cent of them managed to engage in at least half an hour of exercise daily. The total number of people (786,000) who registered for the challenge also far exceeded the target of just 100,000.
So, what’s in store this year?
This year’s participants can expect to see “more events, more action and more fun.” There will be weekend carnivals, dedicated fitness villages and more than 2,000 free classes, events and community-led activities.
“We’ve got ever more fitness in store for you all across the city,” organisers said on the official website.
Those who are interested are encouraged to download the all-new Dubai Fitness App, which will come handy in terms of tracking workouts, finding out which classes and fitness sessions are available, as well as creating social fitness groups.
