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COVID-19 only added to the inspiration of this year's Fittest Loser competition

The coronavirus may seem to apply an annoying stain on every news story it touches - and it seems to touch an overwhelming number of them these days. But there are some stories COVID-19 actually enhances.

Take the Daily Herald's annual "Fittest Loser" competition. Every winter and spring since 2009, this community project aimed at helping readers eat and live healthier has produced some of the most inspirational reading of the year as it follows individuals and teams through several months of transforming their daily routines and their bodies.

This year's installment started out in late February with the same hopeful enthusiasm that launched the previous 11. Then COVID-19 entered the picture. After Gov. J.B. Pritzker's March 20 order closing businesses deemed nonessential, the four individual challengers no longer could work out at the gym with their trainers from Push Fitness in Schaumburg, which has hosted the event from the beginning. And the more than 230 people participating in the team portion of the competition were likewise left to find creative ways to conduct their workouts safely. They couldn't exercise in groups, in person with their coaches or using the professional equipment at the gym. That meant they not only had to overcome practical logistical obstacles, but they also had to tackle their imposing fitness goals without the chance to feed off each other's energy or get the encouragement and prodding of their coaches in that way that only in-person contact can provide.

Zoom and electronic communications had to suffice for cheers and pats on the back along the way. Under such conditions, it might be understandable if someone wanted to put an asterisk by this year's numbers to adjust for disappointing results.

Don't even think about it.

Weight losses for the individual contestants - Karl "Van" Dillenkoffer, Jennifere Lux, Neil Madden and Barbara Simon - ranged from more than 12 percent of body weight to the more than 20 percent shed by winner Dillenkoffer, who ended the competition just shy of 50 pounds lighter than the 244 he started with.

The coronavirus also, of course, derailed the project's usual closing gathering of hundreds of supporters and contests, but the event still went on Tuesday night with plenty of excitement and fanfare via Zoom. The adjustment was disappointing, no doubt, but like so many of the accommodations we're making these days, it had its own compensations - and the inspirational spirit of the Fittest Loser event barely even wavered.

Dillenkoffer, 70, told the Zoom audience after his win was announced that he'd originally worried that his trainer might find "the old man can't cut it." He emphatically proved otherwise.

"This has been just an amazing experience," Dillenkoffer he said. "It's been a blast."

It is always uplifting to watch the dedication of Fittest Loser contests as they overcome the physical and mental challenges required to make a major transformation in their lives. This year, they proved that people are capable of such successes even when circumstances impede them and offer a convenient excuse for failure.

Take that, COVID-19.

jslusher@dailyherald.com

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