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Sandy Journal

Longtime resident and cycling instructor receives the first Healthy Sandy Champion Award

Mar 31, 2023 11:10AM ● By Sarah Morton Taggart

Clint Juhl says he uses good music and a fun atmosphere to motivate his 6 a.m. spin cycling class students. (Photo courtesy Sandy City Council Facebook page)

Clint Juhl has taught indoor cycling classes four mornings a week for 20 years. That adds up to approximately 4,000 classes and 44,000 students. So it’s no mystery why he was chosen to be the recipient of the first Healthy Sandy Champion Award.

The award was presented during the Sandy City Council meeting on Feb. 28. 

“We decided to do this Healthy Sandy Champion to recognize individuals or groups that commit to making Sandy a healthier place to live and work and have fun,” said Darin Butler, the Sandy Library manager and past chair of the Healthy Sandy steering committee. 

The committee is made up of 18 volunteers and city leaders who advocate for better health in the community, which includes access to healthy food and mental health resources as well as active living. 

Juhl was nominated by a member of the committee who stated “he’s passionate and caring and cares for the well-being of our community.”

“Just recently, one of our members at Alta Canyon had an incident, a cardiac incident, in his class,” said Mayor Monica Zoltanski when presenting the award. “And Clint literally was there to catch the patron before he fell. We are so grateful for your service and your leadership and all you do for the community, so congratulations.”

One of Juhl’s students is recently-retired Fire Department Chief Bruce Cline. 

“Bruce is a frequent rider,” Juhl said. “He’s still an active member of the 6 a.m. class even after retiring. We all keep an eye on each other. It’s a family. If people aren’t there, I call you and say ‘Where are you? What’s going on?’”

At age 63, Juhl enjoys staying active and has competed in multiple Ironman Triathlons. He is a cycling instructor two days a week each at Alta Canyon Sports Center and VASA Fitness in Sandy in the morning and runs a small business during the day. 

“I'd like to thank my wife, who's really the only reason I'm getting this,” Juhl said. “Because she does the music and it's her music that brings everybody.”

Juhl also mentioned his children, who have worked as lifeguards, pool managers and swim coaches at Alta Canyon over the years.

“Clint creates a sense of community. I noticed this with him the first time I met him during a tree planting project at Alta Canyon many years ago,” said Dan Medina, director of Parks & Recreation for Sandy City and a member of the Healthy Sandy steering committee. “And that sense of community is obvious in his spin classes. He encourages his riders to support and uplift one another and celebrate each other’s achievements. Not only does this create a sense of camaraderie but also help create a positive atmosphere and motivates riders to work hard.” 

Sandy was designated as a Healthy Utah Community in 2021, one of 33 municipalities in Utah to be given that recognition to date. The designation program, a partnership between Get Healthy Utah and the Utah League of Cities and Towns, recognizes communities that implement evidence-based strategies to improve community health. 

Some of those strategies can be found at the Healthy Sandy website, ut-healthysandy.civicplus.pro. The website offers information on a range of topics, from vaccines to suicide prevention to nutrition.

“Clint has the perfect personality to encourage and motivate people to be healthy,” Medina said. “This award is very well deserved and earned.”