MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES RESULTS OF CITY-WIDE GET BIKING CHALLENGE

MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES RESULTS OF CITY-WIDE GET BIKING CHALLENGE

Competition Encouraged K-8 Students to Bike More During National Bike Month

BOSTON - Wednesday, June 17, 2015 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh today announced the successful results of the Boston Bikes Get Biking Challenge, the first city-wide biking competition for youth. Eleven schools accepted the challenge and over 3,500 students were invited to participate by tracking the amount of minutes they rode throughout the month of May.

"Encouraging exercise and healthy choices should start with our youngest residents," said Mayor Walsh. "Boston Bikes Get Biking Challenge was a fun way to do just that, and I'm excited to see such great participation throughout the City." 

The friendly competition ranked schools based on the percent of students who participated and the number of days ridden. The Josiah Quincy Elementary School in Chinatown took first place, earning the Golden Pedal Award and a bike raffle, and Perkins Elementary in South Boston and Nathan Hale Elementary in Roxbury came in second and third place, respectively.

Through the Get Biking Challenge, 1,389 students reported biking a total of 597,760 minutes. Converted into distance, these students biked 79,700 miles, the equivalent of biking around the Earth’s equator three times. In terms of calories, the students burned about 859,810 calories, the equivalent of 6,230 cans of soda.

The Get Biking Challenge was a unique opportunity for students to get active and develop healthy habits. Some students biked to school, others biked during physical education classes or recess, and some students biked with their families on weekends. Students earned participation prizes of stickers, reflectors, bike lights or bike bells.

For more information, visit: http://www.bostonbikes.org/programs/get-biking-school-challenge/overview// or call (617)-918-4253.

About Boston Bikes:

Boston Bikes is part of Mayor Walsh's vision for a vibrant and healthy city that benefits all its citizens. It seeks to make Boston a world-class bicycling city by creating safe and inviting conditions for all residents and visitors. Boston Bikes focuses on improvements in all six universal bike planning areas: Engineering, Enforcement, Education, Encouragement, Equity and Evaluation.