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Thousands participate in Boston fitness challenge raising over $1M for first responders, military personnel

First responders, military personnel and community members took on a run, walk and step challenge at TD Garden

By Grace Zokovitch
Boston Herald

BOSTON — Thousands of first responders, military personnel and community members took on a massive running, walking and stepping challenge throughout TD Garden on Sunday in a Bruins-sponsored event to raise money for charities.

“This year’s event broke records, raising more than $1 million for first responders and military charities,” said Hannah Wolfe, Boston Bruins communications coordinator. “With 2,671 participants, the turnout exceeded last year’s challenge by almost 1,000 people and included 292 different teams.”

The 9th Annual BFit Challenge, hosted by the Boston Bruins and the Boston Bruins Foundation and sponsored by National Grid, kicked off at 9 a.m. Feb.2, with participants lined up to walk and run throughout the stadium.

The challenge raises money for charities serving military personnel and first responders, including the 100 Club of Massachusetts, Team MR8, Newton Firefighter’s Children’s Fund, Massachusetts Fallen Heroes and Operation Service.

The event raised a total of $1,184,528 as of around 2:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon , Wolfe said.

Since it started nine years ago, the event has raised $4.7 million for the charities, Boston Bruins said in a release. At the 2024 challenge, the Bruins stated, over 1,700 people participated and over 4,000 guests attended.

The police and miliary division of the challenge began at 10 a.m., the community division followed at 11 a.m. , and fire and EMS divisions joined in at noon.

Bruins alumni joined in Sunday’s challenge, with center Patrice Bergeron joining military and police, defenseman Adam McQuaid following in the community division and goaltender Andrew Raycroft participating with fire and EMS.

Each year, the top fundraising teams from each division and overall highest fundraisers receive Bruins prizes.

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