developing healthful outdoor exercise
and related activities
Piedmont Challenge is a company that sponsors an annual field event on a Pivotal Tract. Some Tracts are Commonwealth wildlife management areas. Its objective is to profit from:
- Acquainting guests with all of the dimensions of Rural System, Inc.
- Providing a notable target or justification for people exercising throughout the area
- Linking exercise to health programs of Rural System, Inc.
- Linking people to the trails and exercise units of Wildland Walkers and other units
- Encouraging year-around use of wildlife management areas.
- Providing income from advertising, photography, and TV rights
The company:
- Coordinates well with NovoSports.
- Markets the annual event
- Conducts and supervises limited news-related TV work
- Supervises and arranges for other TV work
- Invites special participants (e.g., Jason Price)
- Sells or develops commissions on sales of exercise clothing and equipment
- Sells memberships
- Creates and revises a program annually
- Develops programs with advertising
- Advertises and markets the event
- Hires and supervises the staff, judges, announcers, etc.
- Coordinates activities around September 28 (2002), probably officially declared as Hunting and Fishing Day throughout the Commonwealth
- It conducts field trips and demonstrations.
- It sells related technology such as exertise devises and magazines but also sells outdoor equipment for other low-key participants such as phones, altimeters, binoculars, and digital cameras.
- It maintains a web site for sales and members.
The annual event, for example on a state wildlife management area, promotes the area and its principles and uses and sequences participants through a "county-fair" or commercial-convention of displays, positions, and tables.
Entrance fees are charged. Advertisers (limited) pay fees. (The Rural System, Inc. options being advertised and promoted must be foremost. This can be considered an "outdoors advertising event" paid for by Rural System, Inc.)
There are major events such as weight lifting. Special "toughman" and strong-person events are sponsored - weight lifting, rope climbing, stone tossing. This is regional and needs to be pioneer/outdoor/low-key in personality (not pulling aircraft, etc.). Rope pulling by participants and even guests may be considered. A contest for pulling a stone sled by mule and by people (increasing numbers) might be considered. Weights (bales of hay suspended on both sides of a lift-bar up to 500 pounds need to be used to give visual impact to the feats of strength (vs. the iron weights of the exercise room.)
People who have lost weight, run distances, overcome health problems, changed their Chi-index significantly are recognized with major prizes.
Memberships include a web site access, special low-cost deals, health food rebates, articles on health, rebates for memberships in corporate participants, menus, news flashes about health and nutrition, first aid advice. Winners of events are recognized and promoted.
Books on named diets are sold.
A special program for health and participation for older people may gain national notice.
One unit of the annual event highlights strength contests in otherwise-handicapped people
A linear programming diet service is offered to members.
Insurance related health programs are sponsored.
Research participation is encouraged.
Research results are reported.
High-quality tee shirts advertise the event and Rural System, Inc.