Team LaLanne History

The original idea for this Team Lalanne effort came to me in late 2007 when I realized that Jack's 95th birthday was approaching, and there was some rumor that he was going to attempt another feat of strength (swimming to Catalina Island, approx. 14 miles). I thought it would be a nice change to have other folks perform some "feat of strength" with Jack instead of having us watch Jack do something amazing again. So I created Team Lalanne website in January 2008 to describe the concept.

I also attempted to contact Jack Lalanne himself to float my idea, but his executive assistant informed me that Jack is no longer performing feats of strength. I then suggested that he need not perform any feat, but instead could be involved more passively, for example, by having a group of athletes pull him in a boat. But I was told that his schedule was completely booked and he could not get involved.

Sigh. Totally understandable though, given his superstar stature.

I remained committed to do something, and vowed to create a more interactive website where other Lalanne-inspired folks such as myself could chime in and coordinate our efforts to organize some kind of grass roots athletic event worthy of "feat of strength" designation a la Lalanne.

As the T-minus six month point in the countdown to 26 Sep 2009 approached (26 Mar 2009, my sister's b-day, btw), I realized that I needed to get my act together if anything was going to come of this. I had been dabbling with some website tools, but really got excited when I came across James Tauber's Django Con 2008 talk in Sep 2008. I knew that was the way to go, but didn't get serious about it until Feb 2009. The result is the site now before you.

Collective Feat of Strength

I now feel that, while a group feat of strength would be nice, it is easier (and perhaps even more compelling) to organize globally distributed collective feat of strength which folks are free to execute however they want on 26 Sep 2009, based on their favorite exercise, sport, or diet goals. Folks can use this website as a common meeting point to share whatever health-related challenge they plan on doing. If folks residing in the same vicinity want to organize group feats of strength, great! This website can be used to help find local commrades, advertise their event and drum up additional support.

Personally, I am willing to help coordinate a group feat of strength athletic activity in the San Francisco Bay Area, the location of many of Jack's feats of strength and the place where he got his start in the fitness business. There is nothing concrete at this point, but I will keep all Team Lalanne tribes-folk appraised of my progress. Anyone in the SF Bay Area (or willing to travel here) is more than welcome to accompany me.

We can use the "Collective Feat Of Strength" wiki page to present some ideas and update info about plans as they gel. (I would provide a link to it from this post, but there appears to be some trouble with wiki links at present. You can find it on the main page for the Team Lalanne tribe.)