George Washington University students, faculty and staff will again face off from Oct. 16 to 26 in a steps challenge, a fitness competition to promote healthy living and wellness.
This is the third year the university has hosted the competition. Participants are encouraged to join a team and get in as many steps as possible each day, as tracked by a fitness tracker, iPhone or Android and logged on Stridekick, which has a GW-only site for the competition.
After the two-week challenge ends Oct. 26, the team with the highest cumulative step average will win a free Beefsteak lunch.
New this year, however, is the opportunity to “chase” George Washington President Thomas LeBlanc and his wife, Anne.
Each day of the challenge, individual participants are encouraged to try to get a higher step count than the LeBlancs’ average step count. For each day a participant does so, he or she will receive one entry into a raffle to win an Apple Watch. Each participant can earn up to 11 entries into the raffle.
Winners will be announced Oct. 30 on GW’s social media (@GWTweets and Facebook).
Participants should register by 11:59 p.m. Oct. 15.
Last year, the university community logged more than 75 million steps during the 14-day challenge.
GW's Office of the Vice President for Research won the team challenge, averaging 14,131 steps a day as a group.
The first-place individual winner of the drawing, Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration faculty member Melissa Neuman, averaged 11,273 steps per day during the challenge.
So, get stepping! And use the hashtag #StepItUpGW to encourage some healthy competition on social media.
