Things to think about before organising your Workplace Walkathon

Workplace Walkathon is a light hearted, competitive activity that aims to help increase physical activity levels in the workplace. Work colleagues form teams and conduct a walking race to a virtual destination over a period of time by counting their steps with a pedometer. The walkathon may also provide an opportunity for other health promotion activities in the workplace such as promotion of healthier food choices.

Prior to the event you should put together an information pack for teams. You can download facts sheets and order resources for your event. The packs could also contain information or items from sponsors of your event.

Form teams. This might be managers versus team members or teams made up from across the company. Small work places may also like to compete against another business in the field or local area.

Decide where you are going. Fix a destination as close or as far away as the size and enthusiasm of your teams will allow. Big teams can “cross the state” or even “walk across Australia”, smaller workplaces can aim closer to home.

Work out how many kilometres to your destination. For instance, Sydney to Perth is 4110 km by road. Based on the assumption that each step equals 0.3 metres, there are approximately 2000 steps to the kilometre. Multiply the distance to your destination by 2000 and you have the number of steps your team needs to take to get there. Alternatively you can set a time limit and the team that goes the furthest, wins.

If you have unequally numbered teams, simply calculate the average number of steps taken and use this as the daily figure.

A pedometer is an important piece of equipment for this activity. Perhaps the organisation can purchase these to encourage staff to participate. Alternatively, you may like to approach local businesses with the approval of management to seek sponsorship of pedometers which could display their company logo. Many libraries also have loan systems for pedometers, so check with your local library to see if you can arrange to hire pedometers for the event. Make sure the pedometers you purchase/loan are reliable and accurate.

To approach an organisation for sponsorship of your event, you should start by contacting the Marketing, Communications, or Public Relations Manager within the organisations. Some smaller businesses may not have such a person, in this case you may wish to contact one of the general managers. When considering organisations to approach for sponsorship you should consider if they are appropriate for the event, and whether having them as a sponsor will send the right message to the workplace, e.g. a fast-food restaurant may not be the most appropriate.

When you contact the organisation, provide them with information about your organisation and your event including what it is, and how many people are going to be participating. Also explain to them what you would be expecting from their sponsorship, such as donation of prizes or branded pedometers. You should also make it clear what they can expect from their sponsorship, such as exposure to the number of your employees, their logo included in all event materials, their logo included on your website, inclusion of a brochure or another item in the event information pack given to staff, and/or their company mentioned in all media releases for the event.

Remember, some team members will be starting from a low activity base, some will already be walking a lot, and others may have a disability. Make sure this is non-judgmental, fun and inclusive. Participants should be encouraged to walk at their own pace. Note: If participants are pregnant, have been previously inactive, or suffer from any medical conditions it is recommended that they seek medical advice before commencing vigorous physical activity. Vigorous activity is where you “huff and puff”; where talking in full sentences between breaths is difficult.

Track the teams on a map or a poster in the kitchen/tearoom area – this can help people remember to make healthy choices at lunch time. A poster template (RTF 14 KB) is included in the Workplace Walkathon event templates.

The winner is the first team to make it to the virtual destination, or gets closest to the destination by the finish date.

The real winners are the people at your workplace who have participated, enjoyed a fun team building activity, improved their fitness, built productivity and who may have reduced their likelihood of developing a chronic disease.

Celebrate the winning team and the success of the event by hosting a workplace celebration featuring healthy food and special guests. Invite all those that participated or contributed in some way. You might like to hold a BBQ with lean grilled meats and/or seafood and salads, with fruit salad and low-fat yoghurt for dessert, or hold a healthy morning or afternoon tea.

Prizes could be a fruit basket or vouchers for sports equipment, gym membership, drink bottles, t-shirt, gift certificates, caps or water glasses. You might like to approach local shops or companies to seek sponsorships of your event which could include providing prizes. Examples of business you could approach for sponsorship might include: local fruit and vegetable stores, sporting stores or gyms, beauty or massage salons, or health food stores. Avoid unhealthy products as prizes. Email info@measureup.gov.au if you would like to be sent a ‘Healthy Food Fast’ recipe book to use as a prize.

A special guest such as a local sporting identity, a GP or dietician who can talk about the benefits of regular physical activity and good nutrition will add to the event.

Keep the local paper/media informed and invite them along to your celebration. Not only will you have contributed to a new enthusiasm for wellness in your workplace, you will be setting a great example for other businesses and groups in your community. Remember to always clear contact with the media with your management.

Resources you will need to organise for participants:

Pedometers
Prizes
Map of Workplace Walkathon destination
Log sheets (RTF 32 KB) to record pedometer steps

Let the community know and email photos of your Workplace Walkathon to info@measureup.gov.au for the Measure Up website. Remember to seek permission from those in the photos before you send them on (see the photo consent form (RTF 22 KB)). Also fill in and send back the Workplace Walkathon Evaluation Form (PDF 32 KB) to let us know how your event went.