Marching to five million steps

I’m delighted to report the Spark team smashed through a record five million steps in our ‘March Spark, March’ charity steps challenge. Across the course of March we were set a group goal of registering five million steps on our phones/smartwatches/step counters to unlock a £650 prize for charity, and as an agency we ended the month on a massive 5,689,959 steps.

Michelle claimed the crown, racking up almost half a million steps, meaning she got to choose which charity would receive the funds we had raised. She chose a cause close to many of our hearts, Prostate Cancer UK, after going one better than her second-placed finish in last year’s challenge. Michelle was closely followed by Alice, Cathy and Ana, who all broke the 400,000 steps mark to way outstrip their previous Spark steps challenge performances. Dom was the highest placed male, posting just over 350,000 steps.

In previous years we were competing as individuals, but decided we wanted to work together this time, and I certainly felt a sense of camaraderie, with people finding various ways to build a walk into their daily routines. As a result the number of people taking part increased from 17 to 23, which was great to see. Some of us started to go on morning walks with our dogs, while others were visiting the park at lunch and a few of us even met up on foot at weekends.

The wonders of technology even meant myself and Rob were registering steps from abroad, as we had gone on holidays during the challenge. I think I had some steps clocked in from the Indian Ocean as I took my phone swimming a couple of times, and Rob was demanding his partner explored the streets of Lisbon by foot. I’m sure they felt a huge sense of satisfaction watching the iconic yellow trams trundle past as his step count slowly rose.

It's great to have been able to raise money while doing some light exercise, and we’ll be sure to do it all again next year. Now our attentions will be turning to a fresh challenge in the coming months – stay tuned!