During the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us were seeking ways to stay connected. The sixth annual Move More Challenge allowed employees to come together even though they were apart.
The challenge — the second during the pandemic — helped new employees become more familiar with Emory University and Emory Healthcare as they virtually stepped through 14 different Emory destinations. New checkpoint destinations in the 2021 challenge included Emory Hillandale Hospital, Winship Cancer Institute and Goizueta Business School.
More than 5,000 employees worked together to walk more than 1.5 billion steps.
“It was great to see the positive physical and emotional effects this challenge had on employees this year,” says wellness specialist Marisa Hutchinson.
Nicole Arnett, a laboratory supervisor from Yerkes National Primate Research Center, says this year’s challenge helped her personally. “2020 was a hard year,” Arnett says. “This year’s Move More Challenge helped me find my smile again. I enjoyed getting outside with my Emory accountability partners in health to ‘step forward’ into 2021 wearing a bigger, brighter smile.”
Amelia Tonurist, a program coordinator with Emory College of Arts and Sciences, found the program helpful in meeting new colleagues and being on a team together. “In addition to the new great acquaintances, the challenge truly motivated me to get up and do more for my health,” Tonurist says. “It was the very first such experience for me, and I loved it — it was a fun way to keep me moving and go that extra mile a day to achieve more.”
Tonurist regularly checked the Healthy Emory Connect app to keep track of reward points for her incentive. “It was fun and motivating to see the rewards points grow as I stayed active and consistent,” she says. “I would recommend the Move More Challenge to all my colleagues. You have absolutely nothing to lose but be quite sure you will take a few extra steps toward your well-being.”
Earning prizes
More than 900 prizes were awarded to employees who reached Level 1 (250,000+ steps) and Level 2 (460,000+ steps) participation and those who consistently uploaded their steps throughout the six weeks (a new feature this year).
Prize winners were given Pulse Cash to shop in the Virgin Pulse store on Healthy Emory Connect.
Nearly 60 of our top 100 steppers totaled more than one million steps, which was an increase from last year’s 41 employees. From the responses received on this year’s participant survey, team comradery and friendly competition were both highly rated.
Continue moving more
Though the challenge has ended, there are several opportunities to keep moving while having fun. For example, employees can get active through:
- Free group virtual classes at Blomeyer Health Fitness Center and Woodruff PE Center
- Emory Healthcare yoga zoom classes
- Active Works resources to help make the active choice during your day.
Learn about other programs by visiting the Healthy Emory website.