It’s time to dust off your kicks and get ready for the 2019 Arizona Walking Challenge, the second annual friendly business-to-business competition designed to encourage employee-wellness throughout the state. 

The six-week challenge inspires “everyday movement for virtually anyone,” explained Alex Allion, western region manager of Terryberry’s Phoenix office. As global employee recognition provider of products and services, Terryberry has been a part of the greater Phoenix business community since 1981 and today serves more than 300 organizations across Arizona with recognition programs, services and products.

Walking challenge contenders will go “toe-to-toe” in the six-week competition set for Oct. 7 – Nov. 17, with winners honored at an awards celebration. Competition categories include highest number of average steps per employee, most creative social media posts and most improved stepper. Enrollment for the competition is currently underway with Best Western International, Make-A-Wish, HACI Mechanical Contractors, Nutranext and Saints Simon & Jude Cathedral School among the many returning organizations poised to lace up again for the second annual competition. 

Sr. Raphael, I.B.V.M., long-time Ss. Simon & Jude principal, was so inspired by the “tens of thousands” of more steps that she and her staff logged last year, that she plans to “beat them all” in this year’s competition, thanks, in part, to her new Fitbit, which was a 2018 Christmas gift from the school’s teachers. Sr. Raphael said she is already calibrating her new device to capture each and every step of the six-week competition!

According to school organizers, the Workplace Walking Challenge is a perfect complement to the school’s holistic wellness programs and policies, which strive for a combination of physical, emotional and spiritual wellness for their community of pre-K-8th grade students. Case in point; each week, the school, founded by Irish nuns, offers an after-school Irish dance class club. Healthy eating, ample movement and additional opportunities to enhance intellectual rigors through robotics and chess club, for instance, are also intentional elements of the school’s wellness culture.

“Teaching is a very physical profession, so we’re moving frequently, but the Workplace Walking Challenge allows us to find small, impactful ways to bolster our efforts,” explained Cathy Chrisman, Preschool Director. 

“As a school, we’re committed to bettering ourselves personally and professionally, so this walking challenge encourages us to strive for better health, which only inspires our students,” Chrisman said. 

That level of commitment doesn’t surprise Mike Byam, fourth-generation managing partner of Terryberry. “The depth of engagement and stories of personal success coming from companies across Arizona for the inaugural Arizona Walking Challenge inspired us to make this year’s competition even better,” he said.  “At the end of the day, it’s all about building a culture of wellness that transcends to all aspects of an individual’s personal and professional life. Through both our wellness program and similar efforts at companies we work with, we’ve learned that employees who exercise regularly improve both a company’s bottom line and its culture and we’re excited to see that trend continue expanding around Arizona.”  

In the inaugural competition, more than 2,000 participants logged some 500 million steps – that’s nearly eight trips around the world! Byam said he anticipates a larger, growing event for the second year. This includes a returning partnership with Arizona Society for Human Resource Management (Arizona SHRM), a statewide organization dedicated to supporting and promoting the profession of human resources.

Enrollment is currently underway with an early-bird rate through September 6th. Learn more at www.workplacewalkingchallenge.com/arizona