Get out your walking shoes & dust off those Fitbits/pedometers because it’s time for the MECA Fitness Challenge! This year’s challenge will consist of a walking contest with an added water drinking bonus. If a person does a type of exercise other than walking/running, such as weight lifting, playing volleyball or basketball, biking, bowling, etc, they can record 2,000 steps (1 mile) per 30 minutes of activity. However, any steps they take while doing this activity can’t be counted in addition to the 2,000 steps – No Double Dipping!
Here’s how it works:
Starting on Monday, June 2, 2025 each participant will start wearing their Fitbit/step counter. Each participant will keep track of their steps for the six-week period. It can be worn all the time, not just when exercising. The log sheet allows for each participant to record their steps for each day.
BONUS!!! As an added bonus, in order to promote healthy habits, again this year there will be a water drinking bonus. For each fluid ounce of water drank (of course most people will have to “guestimate” so please just be as honest as possible), 100 steps will be added to the participant’s total steps. So, if you drank 80 fluid ounces of water one day, 8,000 “water bonus steps” would be added to that person’s total (there is a separate space for this on the log sheet).
After the final day of the contest (Sunday, July 13th), each participant will complete their log sheet and turn it in to their cooperative’s wellness coordinator, who will have a “master” log sheet. Once all participants have turned in their individual sheets, the wellness coordinator will record these results on their “master” log sheet and send the “master” sheet to me at the MECA office.
Once I have received your “master” log sheet, I will take your cooperative’s total steps taken and divide it by the number of participants at your cooperative. This allows the contest to be fair for cooperatives big and small. Whichever cooperative has the highest average number of steps will win the contest and a prize (to be determined), receive special recognition at the MECA Annual Meeting, and of course, have bragging rights.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Andrea Doll at andrea@mtco-ops.com or 406-761-8333.