After four weeks or 28 days of walking the same streets, running extra kilometres and discovering new paths, we’ve reached the finish line of the Millionaire Team Step Challenge. With 834 participants divided over 157 teams, we collected a total of 192,322,465 steps. Team Sport clocked up the most steps – about 3.5 million – after a millimetre sprint with Team Vision Lab 1. A fantastic result after four weeks of sore feet.
The goal of this step challenge was simple: to get to one million steps in four weeks in groups of up to six colleagues, and in doing so to get more exercise. Hundreds of us grabbed our walking and running shoes and got involved. The challenge was more serious for some than for others, but soon our competitive sides started to come out. The first teams reached the finish line after just nine days. The Hotties got there first.
Pascale became a millionaire all by herself
In the end, 125 teams reached the final goal of a million steps. Among them we’ll raffle off ten breakfast baskets, provided by komida. But the other teams are also in with a chance of winning one of the ten fruit or vegetable bags up for grabs. You’ll find the winners on Pintra and they will also be notified personally.
On average, each participant took 230,738 steps during the challenge, and the women showed that they are the stronger sex. No fewer than 70% of the participants were women, and in the individual rankings the top three are also women.
- Pascale 1,039,354
- Astrid 970,122
- Howa 923,194
You read it right. One of the participants actually registered more than one million steps all on her own. Pascale Storms from Team Vision Lab 1 deserves a special mention in this final report on the step challenge.
Millimetre sprint between Team Sport and Team Vision Lab 1
With the finish line in sight, it became a very exciting battle for first place. “At the start of the last week, the gap between Team Vision Lab 1 and our team became bigger day by day”, says Team Sport. “It turned out to be a very strong and motivated team, ready to step up to the finish. At the start of the last weekend we owed about 200,000 steps – a huge backlog”.
The members of Team Sport decided to go for it one more time. “Nils and Astrid V.C. had the crazy idea of walking the entire coastline in one day. And when would this be better than… the last weekend of the challenge? With their incredible performance of almost 80 km, they brought our team back into the race. On the last Sunday we did everything we could, and we continued to race until 11.50 p.m. Just like The Hotties, we phoned each other, kept each other informed, pulled out of the seat and motivated each other.”
In the end, it became a millimetre sprint in which a photo finish had to decide on the first place. “The American presidential elections were nothing against it,” reacted colleagues from the Sports Department. In the night from Sunday to Monday they went to bed with the idea that Team Vision Lab 1 had won. “It wasn’t until the next morning that our last steps were counted, so suddenly we were in 1st place. On Tuesday we received the redeeming email. As the Sports Department we are very proud to be at the top, but for us every team that has taken on the challenge is a winner. And once again our sincere shout-out to Team Vision Lab 1. You were more than strong competitors!”
Shinbone inflammation and so on
In the end, the difference between the two teams was 10 534 steps. “We needed every step to get to this result,” says Team Sport. “Our strength consisted of every team member. As a long-distance runner, Nick ran at least 25 kilometres every day (!), Elien combined rebuilding work with extra steps, Evi ran a shinbone inflammation, Astrid V.C. and Nils walked down the coast line and extra laps every day, and Astrid K. ran a marathon almost every weekend and ended with 970 122 steps herself close to the million”.
“We are happy that after four weeks we can take up our normal lives again, after the challenge has firmly mastered some of us. It really was an incredibly pleasant experience, in which we as Sports Department took part with great pleasure. Our muscles and joints are also very happy: shinbone inflammation, heel spur, bloodbleins and runner’s knees: we now know all about it!”
52,737 pizzas
Let’s finish with a fun fact: 14,239,116 calories burned is equal to 52,737 pizzas. It’s clear that exercise is healthy. Keep moving!
