Three teams from the local authority were among the top five performers after the Autumn Step Count Challenge 2018 which saw over 420 teams from across the country take part.
We run the Step Count Challenge twice a year – an eight-week challenge in the spring and a four-week contest in autumn to encourage people to be more active during the working day.
This year’s autumn challenge, which came to an end last month, saw over 2000 people compete in teams from Shetland to the Borders.
The winning team - Take a Hike - which was made up of five colleagues from legal services within North Lanarkshire Council - clocked up an impressive 3,863,859 steps between them in four weeks. That's about 1729 miles.
Second place went to HR staff from the City of Edinburgh Council who weren’t far behind with 3,651,471 steps.
But the third and fourth slots were also clinched by North Lanarkshire Council teams - Sole Sisters and the Bolshie Badgers - who racked up 3,376,431 and 2,907,778 steps respectively.
Overall, North Lanarkshire Council entered 25 teams in this autumn’s challenge.
Mark Henderson, team captain of Take a Hike said: “It was a lot of hard work. Originally, we started out saying we were all going to walk 10,000 steps a day, but it soon became clear that wasn’t going to cut the mustard.
“Even 12,000 steps a day wasn’t going to give us a competitive edge, so we decided to push for more like 20,000 a day but that kept going up, too.”
“As a team we all did different things - some of us walked in the mornings, others in the evenings.
“One member of our team got a personal step count of one million.”
“I didn’t think we’d win – I only wanted to beat the other team in our department!”
The Step Count Challenge invites teams of work colleagues to track their walking and physical activity and then log their results on the website.
Along the way, participants get motivational tips and are offered prizes for taking part in mini-challenges such as the best wild weather selfie.
The aim of the Step Count Challenge is to get people walking and more active during the working day, breaking up long periods of sedentary behaviour.
I’d like to say a big well done to workmates from North Lanarkshire Council who have really risen to this challenge.
Walking is one of the easiest and simplest things we can do to improve our physical, social and mental health.
We know walking is good for us, but it’s also good for business. Employees who are part of a physically active workforce are more able to concentrate, are more motivated and take fewer sick days.
“The Step Count Challenge is just one way we are encouraging people to be more active during the working day, and I hope that everyone who took part will keep their steps up and continue to enjoy the benefits of regular, everyday walking.”
To sign up for the next Step Count Challenge or for more information, click here.