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Over one billion steps reached in inaugural West Michigan Walking Challenge

Posted at 2:14 PM, Jun 07, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-07 14:14:22-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Over the course of six weeks, 52 local companies participated in the first ever West Michigan Walking Challenge. The employees racked up over one billion steps.

During the challenge period of April 17 to May 28, a total of 2,635 participants walked an average of 66,726 steps per week. All together, they walked 1,054,931,218 total steps, which comes out to 499,494 miles. That’s a distance further than a trip to the moon and back.

Powered by TerryBerry, the challenge was made to encourage healthy lifestyles and an attention to wellness within the workplace.  The participating companies ranged from breweries, to construction companies, to insurance agencies.

There was an award presentation last week that recognized stand out achievements by three of the participating companies. The JW Marriott won Top Company Stepper for averaging 99,556 steps per person, per week. Keyser Insurance won Most Improved Company by recording 16,000 more steps per week at the end of the challenge as compared to the beginning. Flow-Rite Controls won Company With The Most Creative Social Media Post.

TerryBerry Managing Partner Mike Byam said at the award presentation, “This became so much more than a friendly competition among local businesses; it turned into a wellness movement that has spurred both small and large changes for individuals and within companies.”

He also cited many examples of how employees and employers came together to step up their organizational wellness, including internal competitions, walking/marching at their desks, walking meetings instead of conference room sit down meetings, and many more.

With the success of the challenge, Byam assured the audience at the presentation that the West Michigan Walking Challenge will be returning next year.