Finish line! East principal sheds 101 pounds

Paul Sagers was nervous. One step would culminate a year's worth of work and a goal that, if achieved, would be reached by just a hair.

But after taking that nervous step up on the scale, relief washed over the East High principal — 235 pounds. He was down 101 pounds in seven months.

"I thought I would be about three pounds off. So when it hit 235, Mr. Y. and I looked at each other and we were both kind of in disbelief," Sagers said. "It was such a feeling of relief — it was unbelievable, the feeling."

"One hundred" has been a bit of a magic number at East High this year. After Sagers' vow to lose 100 pounds during the school year, hundreds of students also jumped on board with what had become the Dr. Sagers Fitness Challenge — supported by the PTSA and Subway.

Be it doing 100 workouts or running 100 miles before the end of the school year, students and teachers marked their progress and worked toward their goals throughout the year — preparing for last week's run.

The fitness challenge started with a timed mile run/walk in the fall, to be compared with the spring mile run held last week.

Sagers shaved 4 1/2 minutes off of his original 15-minute mile, while students had their own victories that earned them a free trip to Raging Waters.

Dropping 100 pounds in a school year wasn't easy and left no wiggle room for a bad week or poor results.

Sagers said every two weeks he would hop on the scales in front of the student body, dropping around seven to eight pounds every two weeks.

But aside from banishing sweets, treats and junk, Sagers' and assistant principal Martin Yablonosky's alarms went off at 4:30 every morning so they could meet at the East High track and work out before school started.

However, since Yablonosky was already an avid runner, his goal last week was to run a six-minute mile. His last week's time was 5:59. And the 11 students who beat him were rewarded with a Subway sandwich.

In addition to the two principals and students, a number of teachers involved in the challenge also met their weight-loss goals. Teachers who reached their goals received $50 awards.

Sagers credits the students, faculty and staff for his weight loss, since he was constantly under scrutiny.