The Next 'Step' In Corporate Fitness

Media Release 3 August 2005

The Next 'Step' In Corporate Fitness

One of the biggest corporate fitness pushes in New Zealand history.

That is how the general manager of one of New Zealand’s leading travel retailers is describing the company’s latest group fitness initiative.

On Monday more than 40 percent of the staff at Flight Centre strapped on pedometers and committed to each walking or running the equivalent of the distance between Auckland to Wellington in the next three months.

Flight Centre general manager Jeremy van de Klundert says fitness initiative is the latest, and largest, in a long line of innovative ideas the company has put in place to get staff moving,

From August to October the inaugural Flight Centre Steps Challenge is encouraging staff to walk at least 10,000 steps per day (approximately 7km), with 318 people taking up the challenge in its first year.

The steps challenge lasts for three months (92 days of walking 10,000 steps), or a total of 644km per person.

Staff compete against each other, teams challenge teams and even the North Island will be measured against the South Island to keep individuals motivated.

Flight Centre’s in-house health and fitness team leader Heather McGregor says the collective effort that staff have committed to is nothing short of phenomenal.

“If we stick to our goals, then after three months we would have walked collectively 204,792km. That’s five times around the world.”

Ms McGregor says the Steps Challenge is part of Flight Centre’s philosophy of consistently promoting and facilitating well-being amongst staff, and envisions next year's challenge to be even bigger.

This year, for the third consecutive year, Flight Centre Limited has been voted the country’s top large employer in an annual nationwide workplace survey in the Unlimited Best Places to Work survey, Flight Centre was singled out as the best large company in the country to work for, coming in 12th overall.

The company has more than 700 staff across 140 stores and businesses in New Zealand.

ENDS

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