The Paths for All Step Count Challenge, is aimed at improving fitness and getting people more active through walking more in their day-to-day lives. Teams of up to 5 take part in an 8 week walking challenge with participants measuring the distance walked each day using a pedometer.
Ten teams from the Edinburgh Campus joined the challenge representing HRD, Finance, MACS, SBE, TEX, Recruitment & Admissions and CSE between 15 April and 9 June 2013. The walking challenge encouraged friendly competition between the teams and was an opportunity for participants to enjoy the campus.
By the end of the 8 week challenge the 'Pimp My Stride' team from HRD had walked 3,211,702 steps, the equivalent of walking from Edinburgh to just beyond Moscow. Team Captain Sharan Virdee said of the two teams in HRD: "There was constant chatter in the coffee room about how we were doing and a friendly rivalry began and we have definitely found a common ground across the team as a result."
The 'Ministry of Cheese & Onion Walkers' team from Finance completed 3,180,441 steps, which equates to walking from Edinburgh to Bucharest. 1,000,000 of these steps were taken by Andrew Smith. He said about the challenge: "I'll definitely continue to use the pedometer even if numbers are not being recorded. It's a very simple way of reminding yourself about doing a bit of exercise and keeping it at a steady and achievable level". Team Captain Rosemary Johnson commented that "all of the team achieved more than the targets they set for themselves."
The Step Count Challenge has been a great success at the University and will return next year. Look out for more information here