Winners of the AFMC Team Pedometer Challenge Published July 8, 2011 By Ryan Larsen Hilltop Times correspondent HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- Recently the Health and Wellness Center held an award ceremony for the Hill Air Force Base's Team Pedometer Challenge. The Team Pedometer Challenge began on April 11 and ended May 20 and had a total of 230 people participating. The challenge was a base- wide initiative designed to promote the increase of physical activity. Two member teams were given a pedometer to count their steps throughout the challenge. They were able to log and keep track of their progress through an Air Force Material Command website as well as view other team's progress, which provided some incentive for competition. The competition was designed as a team challenge to reinforce the AFMC Wingman concept, encouraging teamwork to achieve goals. Director of the Civilian Health Program Services Jennifer Sedgwick helped organize and coordinate the challenge. "We are excited for everyone who participated," Sedgwick said of the challenge. "It was team atmosphere's so each team could support each other and we saw a lot of people make good changes for their life." To complete the challenge teams were not only supposed to count their steps, but were required participate in at least one of the fun run/walks held on base. Each team member was required to attend three healthy lifestyle classes throughout the competition for a total of six classes for each team. Col. Donald C. Hickman, 75th Medical Group commander, presented the awards, saying, "Most importantly it's all about being well and being fit and improving our lifestyle." The winning teams are: 1st Place: Jody Rose and Lisa Mackenzie -- 1,654,460 steps logged 2nd Place: Craig Ecton and Ross Man -- 1,513,617 steps logged 3rd place: Tami Endow and Shauna Lyon -- 1,454,249 steps logged The total number of steps walked by all participants was 34,307,794. One mile equates to about 2,000 steps and ten thousand steps are considered healthy for most adults. Steps were counted throughout the participants' day at home and work. Jody Rose of the winning team noticed that the more she walked the better she felt and a lot of her aches and pains went away just because of the added physical activity. Lisa Mackenzie, also of the winning team, is an avid runner and said the pedometer challenge helped her gauge her physical activity throughout the day, which aided in her own training. Although some participants did get competitive, the goal of the challenge was to have fun and promote individual healthy lifestyle changes.