Forget lookalike contests and run clubs. The latest tongue-in-cheek meet-up for socially starved young New Yorkers had them reliving their gym class “nightmares.”
More than 200 Gen Zers flocked to Central Park Saturday morning to attempt to smash the world record for the largest FitnessGram PACER test – for many, a dreaded grade school running exam – after a flyer promoting the bizarre event went viral on social media.
The fitness test, described as a “childhood nightmare” by one bystander, requires participants to run across a 20-meter field in timed intervals that become increasingly faster. If a runner doesn’t clear the field before time is up, they are eliminated from the race.
“I think everyone can relate to it because we all did it growing up,” said Jordan Haber, the 24-year-old Boca Raton, Florida native who created the Partiful event that garnered over 600 “interested” RSVPs online. “It’s free, it’s accessible, it’s all ages, it’s something from their childhood.”
Haber — who last made headlines after discovering a loophole that allowed him to become eligible for the NBA Draft despite having no prior experience playing basketball in college, high school or middle school — told The Post he found inspiration for the event after seeing a Hinge prompt quoting the PACER test’s meme-ified opening instructions.
The running exam, also called the Bleep test, represents a shared experience among many Gen Zers, allowing them to connect — or even trauma bond, depending on their middle school memories.
“It’s like how we all have the PSAT memes and bonded over that,” one runner explained. “People might not have done well on that, but … it’s something a lot of people know.”
Fresh-faced participants agreed the event — complete with a “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”-themed promotional poster — brought back a flood of early aughts grade school memories.
“I grew up in New York City, and it was a part of normal gym class — when I saw it online, I felt a sense of nostalgia for it,” said 28-year-old Bushwick resident Emily Akers, who brought her boyfriend Jonah Daniell, 30, to try the test for the first time.
“Being an adult now and prioritizing working out more than I did when I was 15, I thought it would be fun to do it again,” she said, adding: “In high school, I threw up [during the test], and it might happen again.”
“We just want to be kids again,” said 21-year-old nursing student Olivia Stueber. “I need to reclaim my score from middle school, being one of the first ones out.”
“I’m doing it for nostalgia,” said 25-year-old Harlem resident Max Silverman, “and it’s an excuse to work out on a Saturday morning.”
Some attendees noted the gym class revival put a fun spin on Manhattan’s trendy run clubs — and even re-contextualized stressful memories of the classroom test.
“When I was in school, we were like ‘Ugh, we have to do it again?’ And now people join here just for fun,” said spectator Merce llunell, a native of Barcelona, Spain, who said she would be interested in participating if Haber were to make it a regular event. “You miss it.”
“I didn’t do too well on it in elementary school, so I’m trying to do better,” said 22-year-old Jacob Halabe. “There was always one kid when everyone would be done and he would just be styling on people.”
The race winner Aric Cutuli — who finished with 51 laps — admitted he was “always that kid in P.E. who was the try-hard.”
“I did better than I thought I would,” Cutuli, a 24-year-old Murray Hill resident and San Jose, California native, told The Post.
When asked how he prepared, he said: “I didn’t drink that much last night.”
Though the event didn’t draw nearly as many participants needed to break the world record (held by Army Foundation College in Harrogate, England with 941 runners), Haber argued the real point of the event was to foster a shared camaraderie among young New York City residents — especially for a demographic whose high school and college years were impacted by the social isolation of the COVID pandemic.
Haber noted that, while the bizarre event was inspired by popular massive gatherings like the Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest and the “Cheeseball man” eating events, the ability for attendees to participate is a major draw for Gen Z.
“Manhattan is a big city and people get lost in it: people here are probably going to meet and make friends,” he said. “It gets people out of the house … a lot of people probably came alone.”
“Nobody asked me if we broke the world record,” Haber added.
“Everyone was just like, ‘This was really cool.’”
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