Kelly Frey keeps an eye on her 7-month-old daughter Ella while she works at the PIT Stop in the Bob Hope Community Center. The new workout room opened in August. It allows parents to exercise while they keep an eye on their young children. (Mark Abramson / Stars and Stripes)
Parents are pulling into the PIT Stop — the newest fitness center at RAF Mildenhall — to get a good workout in a way that allows them to keep an eye on their little ones.
The PIT Stop, which stands for Parent Infant Training, at the Bob Hope Community Center has been a hit since it opened in mid-August, said Stephanie Lown, the facility’s manager.
"The word is getting out there, and we got some regulars who come in and use it. It is obviously more popular during 8 to 4, the working day," Lown said. "You can come in, work out and on with your day. You don’t have to sign up in advance."
The idea came from a center user’s suggestion to create a place that allows parents to work out and monitor their infants. The one-room workout center allows parents to keep their child in a stroller or put him or her in a play nest.
A sign in the PIT Stop advises that it is for "non-mobile" children.
PIT Stop users can work out on a treadmill, bike or elliptical machine. And they can enter the room via a door to the outside, without having to go inside the community center. They can also check out heart monitors for their workout.
PIT Stop user Kelly Frey said the only other base workout place where she could bring her 7-month-old daughter Ella is an exercise class at the big gym near the flight line.
"I like it. It’s nice to have it so [Ella] can come," Frey said. "I try to come at least a couple of days a week."
Frey said other bases where her husband, 1st Lt. Bill Frey with the 100th Operations Squadron, has been stationed have similar exercise areas and she heard about the PIT Stop’s opening from a friend.
The room is decorated in a child-friendly fashion with characters from the movie "Cars" posted on its purple walls. Checkered flag streamers hanging from the ceiling add to the PIT Stop theme as well. The new center also has balloons, parenting books, a flat-screen TV and DVD player.
"I think it’s cute. It’s nice for the babies. They like it," Frey said.
The PIT Stop has become popular with stay-at-home mothers and its long hours means there is never really a wait to use it, Lown said. It’s open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends.
