Rappahannock County Circuit Fitness Trail

Rappahannock County, located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, is a little over an hour's drive from the suburbs of Washington, D.C. The county is so rural that it doesn't even have a stop light. The residents are spared the traffic, the pollution, the congestion and the noise of living in a city. They are not, however, spared being included in the national epidemic of obesity and lack of fitness. In fact, because they have no community or commercial fitness centers and the narrow mountaineous roads make outdoor activities such as biking treacherous, maintaining fitness for residents of Rappahannock County can be an even greater challenge than for a city dweller. I live in this county and became particularly aware of the low level of fitness among our residents as a Boy Scout in Troop 36. In order to achieve the rank of 1st Class, a Scout must complete an initial fitness test and subsequently demonstrate improvement in three weeks. 95% of the Scouts in my troop cannot even complete one pull up! The problem is compounded by the fact that there is no public facility where a Scout can consistently train for upper body strength. I would like to provide our community with a circuit fitness trail at the centrally located park. This lone park presently only has a children's playground and a tennis court. My proposal is an ambitious project, but the reward would be great because all the citizens of our rural county would benefit from the availability of this free fitness option.