Duke's Big Step Count

A workplace step challenge sounds small until 2,207 people turn it into 708,086,791 steps and 3,418,165 exercise minutes in 10 weeks. That is what Duke staff and faculty logged in this year’s Get Moving Challenge, which ended in March. (today.duke.edu) The program is simple on purpose: Duke employees join alone or in teams, enter weekly numbers online, and compete on steps or exercise minutes. Duke’s Human Resources page says teams can include 5 to 11 coworkers and the challenge also uses weekly prizes, bingo, recipes, and mindfulness prompts to keep people checking back in. (hr.duke.edu) This is not a student event or a one-off fitness app promotion. It is run by LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke’s employee wellness program, which offers health coaching, fitness and nutrition support, smoking cessation help, webinars, and other workplace health services for eligible employees. (hr.duke.edu) Duke has been doing this for years, and the totals show how much participation can swing from year to year. The challenge drew 2,494 participants and 900 million steps in 2020, then 1,355 participants and 578 million steps in 2023, then 2,346 participants and 796 million steps in 2024, then 2,670 participants and 855 million steps in 2025. (today.duke.edu 1) (today.duke.edu 2) (today.duke.edu 3) (today.duke.edu 4) This year’s total was lower than 2025, but it still worked out to about 320,836 steps per participant across the 10 weeks. That is roughly 32,000 steps per person per week, or about 4,600 per day, before counting any movement people forgot to log. (today.duke.edu) The team story inside the big number is even more revealing. A six-person Department of Surgery team called the Surgery ADMINistriders won the Gold League with 1,122,664 steps after a captain decided a smaller roster could raise the team’s average if every member stayed committed. (today.duke.edu) That league structure is new enough to matter here. Duke said in 2024 that teams were sorted into Silver, Gold, and Platinum based on the average steps and exercise minutes they reported at the start, which was meant to create closer races instead of letting one superteam run away from everyone else. (today.duke.edu) The challenge also changes how people use the workday. Duke’s April 8 story says Surgery ADMINistriders members aimed for at least 20,000 steps a day, turned some meetings into walking meetings, used walking pads, and took 15-minute lap breaks around Duke University Hospital’s seventh floor. (today.duke.edu) That pattern showed up last year too, just in a more personal way. In 2025, Duke clinical nurse Lutfiyyah Rasul logged 1,926,869 steps after joining weeks after her mother died, and she said the walking gave her mental clarity while coworkers in the Transfer Center gave her a reason to keep going. (today.duke.edu) What Duke is really testing is whether a giant institution can make movement feel social instead of solitary. When 225 teams spend 10 weeks comparing numbers, challenging rivals, and building routines around breaks, meetings, and commutes, exercise stops being a private intention and starts acting more like a shared calendar. (today.duke.edu) (hr.duke.edu)