Members of the Tomi Boot Fit and Firm Boot Camp took the opportunity last weekend to address one of their personal goals in their fitness development — competing in a marathon.

Thomas Rowe, founder and instructor of Tomi Boot, took nine of his class members to Pensacola to compete in the annual Gulf Coast Half Marathon — a 13.1 mile individual run to gauge their cardiovascular progress in the program.

The nine participants, Lisa Robert, Gina Cross, Angela Lum, Mellisa Brunner, Leslie Harrell, Tyra Beaird, Sallie Cowen, Lindsey Arron and Suzanne Persky, completed the half-marathon — with Cowen finishing with a team-best time of 1 hour and 39 minutes.

The Fit and Firm Boot Camp, in its third year of existence, is a cardiovascular conditioning class that centers around its participant’s goals — from losing weight, maintaining weight, improving agility and balance, developing and toning muscles, increasing metabolism and building strength. Rowe stated that the Gulf Coast Half Marathon allowed many of the class’ members to work towards the goal of competing in a full marathon.

“We try to create an atmosphere that is fun and exciting for everyone while also getting the individual’s personal goals met,” Rowe said.

“The half marathon that we competed in inched us closer to the achievement of being able to compete in a marathon-like setting, where our members can accurately test where they are at in their cardiovascular testing.”

For more information on the boot camp, visit www.fitandfirmbootcamp.com.