The UCLA Bruins came out on top in the 2011 Pac-12 Bank of the West Fitness Challenge, which ran from Oct. 24 to Oct. 31.

The challenge is “a conference-wide initiative promoting regular physical activity,” according to its website. Students and staff are asked to log their fitness minutes, up to one hour in each category, to promote physical activity and overall wellness.

As the winning school, UCLA will receive $5,000 for its recreation department.

This year marked the first time the challenge used Facebook to keep track of the competition. Participants were asked to “like” the challenge page, earning one point for their schools right away, and to then record their fitness level, thereby announcing the points they scored on behalf of their schools to their Facebook friends.

This year’s challenge boasted over 9,000 verified participants and over 1.7 million logged fitness minutes over the course of the week, according to its Facebook page.

Stanford placed fourth in the challenge, with 136,818 points to UCLA’s 424,266. Washington State University and the University of Southern California placed second and third, respectively.

Arizona State University won the challenge last year, breaking Stanford’s four-year streak since the competition’s inception.

– Margaret Rawson