By Megan Wilcox, APR, ThedaCare Media and Public Relations
Sometimes peer pressure can be a good thing. That’s what the staff of the Waushara Argus is finding out.
Eight employees at the newspaper signed up to participate in this year’s Pedometer Challenge sponsored by ThedaCare and ThedaCare Orthopedic Care. All participants receive a pedometer and a log to track their steps. Every Monday, they send in their steps for the previous week. This is the third week of the Challenge, which runs through April 20. The Challenge is designed to increase physical activity by making participants realize how many steps they get in daily. Doctors recommend people get at least 10,000 in daily to improve cardiovascular health.
At the Argus, employees walk through the office for five minutes playing “Follow the Leader” during their morning and afternoon breaks to help increase their step numbers, says Mary Kunash, the paper’s senior publisher, who recruited other staff members to participate.
“It’s very fun and it gets us moving. One of my employees thanked me for including her in the pedometer challenge and says she will always wear one and didn't realize how inactive she was,” she says. “This is a great program.”
Mary adds that some employees bought pedometers to share with family members to encourage them to get in more daily steps, too.
Jessie Weiss, another Argus employee, walked more than 12,000 total steps last week than the first week of Challenge. Her goal is to reach 10,000 steps daily and while she doesn’t always make it, Jessie does say she’s proud of what she’s accomplished.
“I pushed myself to take more steps than I would have without the challenge,” she says.
