November Project Shovels Summit Ave.

While most of us woke up to more than a foot of snow to shovel last Friday, inhabitants of Summit Ave. in Brookline woke up to freshly cleared sidewalks, driveways, and even front porch stairs.

The November Project, the venerable free fitness movement that started in Boston and now has seven outposts around the country, decided to make their Friday 6:30 a.m. workout something that would not only burn major calories, but also help the community. (According to Harvard Medical School, a 155-pound person burns an average of 223 calories in just 30 minutes of shoveling.)

The group states in the video’s description that they will sometimes change their workouts in order to give back. “With partners sharing shovels, switching from sprinting to clearing snow, we were able to clear both sides of Summit Ave. from Beacon Street (bottom) to Corey Park (the top), while getting our workout in,” they say. “We love Brookline. We love Boston. The tribe is strong.”

Residents were thrilled to find their homes shoveled out and let the group know. In the comments, a resident named Bob says, “To all you nutty exercisers, thanks for the surprise this morning. My neighbor showed me a piece of scrap cardboard stamped with ‘November Project’ that he had found on his car. So from the yellow house at the top of Summit Ave., thanks November Project for shoveling the driveway, sidewalk, and even my walkway and door steps!”

Check out the short video below, just look at the joy on their faces, and remember this the next time you complain about shoveling.