For years, Thrashers fan Lindsay Podrid enjoyed watching her favorite team skate around the ice. But when her employer challenged her and other staff to get moving, the Woodstock woman decided to stop watching the game and start playing it.

She joined a coed team and hit the rink. On her first outing, the previously sedentary, 5-foot-1-inch woman fell trying to get on the ice and even stumbled trying to get back up.

Tribe Inc. (ENLARGE)

Tribe advertising agency employees Sarah Stringer (from left), Vicki Vest, Ben Spangler, Lindsay Podrid, Kim Steen, Jennifer Bull, Elizabeth Baskin and Amanda Casciaro competed in a fitness challenge.

JOHNNY CRAWFORD/AJC (ENLARGE)

'I definitely found a love and passion for it,' Podrid says of playing hockey. The Angry Pelicans are one of two teams she plays for.

TRIBE ADVERTISING AGENCY Reason nominated: Fitness challenge Who benefits: Employees Lesson that can be learned: Play to win and get healthy More Golden Carrots Fulton schools embracing healthy eating program  Constangy, Brooks & Smith helps staff balance work and home life  Lovett School wellness program keeps staff fit  Reinhardt College helps students and staff get fit  Staff at Children's Health Care at Mt. Zion in Morrow join forces for better health  TOPIC Atlanta corporate fitness Back to Health news

"It was awful," said Podrid, 25, an art director. Still, she returned each week until her performance improved.

"It's interesting how something I started through work has changed my personal life," said Podrid, who plays forward for two teams. "I definitely found a love and passion for it."

Her passion was ignited in February when the Tribe advertising agency launched a fitness challenge to motivate its 11 employees to adopt healthier lifestyles. The rules were simple: anyone could play, but no one was required to, and employees developed and committed to their own weekly plan of activities.

Each week, employees who completed all their workouts received a gold star. (No stars were awarded for partial performance.) At the end of 12 weeks, the employee with the most stars would win $500 cash.

Staff members walked, worked out at the gym and trained for half-marathons. By the end of April, seven employees were tied with perfect scores and moved into an overtime round with the prize money doubled to $1,000.

Five weeks later, two contenders remained: Podrid and Kim Steen, an exercise enthusiast determined to win.

Steen participated in a variety of activities including ballet, yoga, Pilates, hip-hop dance and running. She also ran the ING half-marathon and finished in two hours, nine minutes.

A plethora of activities catapulted Steen to victory as Podrid missed a workout during the week of June 3.

"It was a pride thing," said Steen, 33, an executive assistant who said she would have competed until the end of the year, if necessary. "There was some harassment going on, but it was all in good fun."

The fierce competitive spirit among staff impressed company founder and chief executive officer Elizabeth Baskin.

"I'm very proud of the way they all jumped into this and with their tenacity at getting those workouts in," she said of employees who sometimes crammed three workouts into a Sunday to meet the Monday morning deadlines.

"It's been a very competitive spring here at Tribe, but we're all looking darn good for bikini season," she said.

——————————

WHO DESERVES A CARROT?

Fortune 500 companies are not the only ones bringing people together to promote health and fitness. Neighborhood groups, offices, schools and churches also are finding ways to get people moving and to encourage a healthier lifestyle. In this regular feature, Better Health recognizes those organized efforts, large and small, that might inspire other groups to initiate their own programs. And we want to hear about them. Submit your Golden Carrot nominations to betterhealth@ajc.com.