“Student athletes who train with Athletic Republic are typically very active,” said Athletic Republic CEO Charlie Graves. “Many of their classmates, however, do not have an active lifestyle. Athletic Republic fully endorses the recommendation of the President’s Council that kids of all ages  ‘Get up. Get out. And have fun.’ Jumping rope, playing catch and shooting hoops are just a few of the many healthy activities kids with active lifestyles enjoy everyday.”

The National President’s Challenge takes physical activity beyond the school gym and into everyday life.  All Americans aged six and older are encouraged to join the Challenge, be active five days a week, and log their activity on their personal activity tracker for six weeks.  The theme for the National President’s Challenge 2008 is “A Healthier Nation: It’s Everyone’s Challenge.”

Graves went on to say: “Throughout our 17-year history, over 500,000 athletes have successfully completed our 6-8 week-long performance sports training programs. So we’ve set a corporate goal of having our group of students log 500,000 minutes of activity per week throughout the National President’s Challenge. That would equal 3 million minutes, or 50,000 hours of logged activity over the six-week Challenge.”

The National President’s Challenge will kick-off on March 20 and end May 15.  Participants can register for the Challenge between March 1 and April 3 for free at www.presidentschallenge.org. Participants can join as an individual or create a group with friends, family, co-workers and students.

For more information about joining Athletic Republic's group, find the facility near you by using Athletic Republic's Geo Locator, or contact Deb Uglem at (701) 241-9018. For more information about the National President's Challenge, visit www.presidentschallenge.org.