Local Discovery: Get out and get active!

Okay, so it's the end of April. How're you doing with those New Year's resolutions? Whether you're motivated by faltering resolutions, the fast-approaching swimsuit season, or just an admirable desire to get healthy, now's a great time to get started!

One of the most common reasons people give for failing to exercise is the lack of a partner to do it with. Exercising with a friend helps you both stay motivated, engaged, and excited about your workouts. With these websites, it's easy to find someone to join you and get moving!

Active.com
Active.com is one of the most all-encompassing fitness websites out there. With over 200,000 listings, you can find information about just about every sport and activity known to man, from mountain biking to slow-pitch softball. There are informative articles about the basics of various activities, as well as up-to-the-minute news, research, and reviews. You can search by city and state or zip code to find activities, facilities, and events near you, and the Resources tab offers calculators, training logs and plans, race results, and more. There's also an iPhone app that lets you register for activities, read articles, and share activities with friends.

Jogging Buddy
Jogging Buddy is much more specific than Active, but it's the home of a very dedicated community. Free to join, the website has been around since 2008 and has members in 71 countries around the world. Created by runners, for runners, Jogging Buddy helps you find people to run with no matter your experience level and goals. You can find and register for events, read reviews of running-related products and events, and read articles with running advice for all skill levels. You can also use its online tools to keep track of your own running logs and routes and to browse those uploaded by other members. Need some more motivation? Jogging Buddy has started a "million mile challenge," and every time you "log a jog," you can see the number tick up. At the moment, it's at 22,232.22 miles!

Exercise Friends
Exercise Friends was one of the first websites devoted to helping people find partners for exercise activities. You don't have to sign up to search the site, but doing so allows you to more easily connect with the people you find. You can search for friends, facilities, and websites using a range of criteria, keywords, or locations. You can also find groups and teams for just about any activity you can imagine, searching either by location or by activity. Got something to chat about? The message boards are a treasure trove of advice from professionals and beginners alike. There's also a calendar of events you can browse to see what's going on in your area.

My SportsPartner
Basically a personals site for exercise enthusiasts, My SportsPartner asks you to fill out a very short questionnaire when you register, noting what you're interested in (dancing, running, hiking, etc.), your age, gender, location, and what you're looking for. Once you've answered those questions, you're then matched with folks in your area who meet your criteria. If you see someone who looks like a promising match, just send a message and get connected. My SportsPartner is a very simple site — you won't find advice articles, instructional videos, or lists of events here. But if all you want to do is find someone to go biking with, it could be just what you need.

Spark People
Spark People is a popular website devoted to helping people lose weight and get in shape. It's a thriving community of folks from all walks of life and all stages of fitness goals, and you'll find all sorts of information about exercise, diet and nutrition, wellness, and other lifestyle subjects. If you're specifically looking for a workout buddy, look under the Community tab for the Buddy Finder. You can narrow your search based on location, age, or goals; click "Search SparkPages" to find all the members who match your criteria. You can then send a message to the people you find using the various tools on the website. There are also SparkTeams, which are groups of individuals sharing common goals and interests, such as weight loss or training for a marathon. These groups offer a great way to find support and motivation from like-minded people.

Everyone knows that getting and staying healthy is important, but there are a lot of things that make it hard for us to stay motivated. With these websites to help, you can find new friends to boost your morale, offer advice, and get out there and get moving!

[Image credits: John Loo, Brian Gratwicke, Denis Todorut, Kevin Hutchinson]

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