Weight loss competition closes with Burns the victor

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Thurmont Mayor Martin Burns on Tuesday won the weight loss competition that began among town board members on March 1.

Town officials had picked Tuesday as the final weigh-in, so they could announce the results during carnival week. Other board members did not appear for the final weigh-in, but joked in previous town meetings that there was no way anyone could catch up with Burns.

Before stepping on the scale, Burns said he hoped to weigh 215 pounds because it was a ‘‘nice, even number.” He weighed 275 pounds in March.

‘‘I’m praying,” he said. ‘‘I don’t want 59 pounds, I don’t want 58, I want 60.”

Burns achieved his goal. The last time he weighed that little, he said, was in 1998. All board members picked a charitable cause, which they raised money for during the competition. Businesses and private individuals sponsored them.

Burns chose to raise money for the Guardian Hose Fire Company in Thurmont, and was sponsored by Long Construction and ‘‘a lot of residents” who had e-mailed him after the competition began. The amount raised during the competition will be announced Thursday, at the carnival.

He did it by eating in moderation, limiting his complex carbohydrate intake, and playing basketball at Thurmont Middle School on Sunday and Monday nights, he said. Burns said he ate mostly chicken wings, salad, and lunch meat.

‘‘I did drink a vitamin, protein drink in the morning, because I get up at 3 a.m.,” he said.