NBC's ‘Biggest Loser' winner Cahill in Brownsville this Saturday

Losers, unite — at Linear Park Saturday morning to meet Danny Cahill, winner NBC’s smash hit "The Biggest Loser."

Cahill, a land surveyor from Oklahoma, won the show’s Season 8 competition by losing 239 pounds, slimming down to 191 pounds and shedding 55.5 percent of his body weight in the process. Cahill flies into Brownsville today and will appear at Linear Park (near the Farmers Market) at 9 a.m. Saturday to give a talk and lead "losers" on a one-mile walk around the park.

"It should be very fun and very inspirational to hear from someone who did something unbelievable," says Dr. Rose Gowen, city commissioner and ob/gyn with Su Clinica Familiar.

Brownsville launched its own Biggest Loser Challenge in February and 408 people signed up. The three-month event includes daily free exercise classes, walks led by various officials, and other events designed to raise awareness of the importance of wellness and help participants take off pounds.

Through May 15, except Sundays and Easter weekend, free classes take place daily at various sites around Brownsville and are open to the public, not just registered challenge-takers. The classes include exercise, kickboxing, yoga and nutrition. Each Saturday is marked by a special event, sponsored by a different entity. A March 6 walk at Monte Bella Mountain Bike Park, for instance, was hosted by the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation. This Saturday’s even is being sponsored by Su Clinica Familiar.

This Saturday will also feature a mid-point weigh-in for challenge entrants at Linear Park. The following Saturday, March 27, a weigh-in will take place at Dean Porter Park. Participants can also weigh in this Friday and next at the Brownsville Parks & Recreation office. The Biggest Loser Challenge grande finale takes place May 15 at the Brownsville Sports Park.

Gowen says the number of challenge registrants exceeded her expectations, while momentum for the Saturday events has been building and the various daily classes have been well attended — especially the women’s classes. Attendance at the men’s classes hasn’t quite kept pace.

"We’ve had lots of interest that we didn’t know we would capture," she says. "We’re really very pleased. If you asked me how we would like it to improve, we would love to see classes even fuller; we would love to see the men’s classes better attended; and we would love to a see a growing crowd of people on Saturday."

Brownsville’s Biggest Loser Challenge grew out of brainstorming between the UTB-TSC School of Public Health and Art Rodriguez, the city’s health director, on how to raise awareness of wellness and healthy living. Education became an essential component of the program. Gowen, meanwhile, got the various community leaders from United Brownsville onboard with a minimum of arm twisting. The hope is that the Biggest Loser Challenge will become an annual thing.

"We would love it become an annual thing and even branch out — give awards for those who kept their weight off," Gowen says. "And we hope to build on this so it’s not the only initiative for the year, but come up with some other entertaining and engaging programs for the rest of the year."