California Lawyers Association
2021 CLA WELLNESS WALKING CHALLENGE
Presented by the CLA Health and Wellness Committee
From August 1st through September 4th of 2021 CLA’s Health and Wellness Committee hosted our first ever walking challenge. Studies have shown that there are many benefits of walking including reduced risk for ailments like heart disease, diabetes, and depression (just to name a few). So we invited the legal community, friends, and family to participate in a free, five-week, virtual walking challenge. Participants created teams of five and using the Big Team Challenge platform, they traversed the length of California (over 950 miles) starting in Eureka and ending in San Diego “passing by” eight regional milestones. Each team member was challenged to take 10,000 steps a day to complete the full route in the five weeks. See the bottom of this page for all of the details and information about this challenge including the rules and waiver for participation.
By the numbers:
- Collectively, challenge participants walked over 33,323 miles.
- 239 individuals logged steps during the challenge.
- Of the 239 participants, the average distance walked was about 139 miles each.
- The individual who logged the greatest distance hit 431 miles with 1,013,241 steps.
- 55 active teams participated.
- Of the 55 teams, the average distance walked per team was about 609 miles.
CHALLENGE WINNERS
The first three teams that completed the entire route first were eligible to receive prizes for first, second and third place.
1st Place – Team Walk Therapy finished the route on 08/27/2021 at about 10:20 p.m.
2nd Place – Team TEN Walkers finished the route on 08/28/2021 around 9:55 a.m.
3rd Place – Team Abogatos finished the route on 08/28/2021 at about 7:41 p.m.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL TEAMS THAT COMPLETED THE CHALLENGE!
Team Abogatos
The Billable Hours
TEN Walkers
Walk Therapy
Holy Walkamolies
Water Striders
Dave’s Cave
TEN Trailing
Angry Asian Ladies
Team to Beat – LFSV
HERRIG & VOGT, LLP
AND THANK YOU TO ALL TEAMS THAT PARTICIPATED!
Angry Asian Ladies
Barristers
BLIQ
Cali Lawyers in Hawaii (or elsewhere)
Central Valley Happy Feet
cmc55
CPT4EVA
Dave’s Cave
Family Walkers
Fierce Five
Good as Hell
HERRIG & VOGT, LLP
Holy Walkamolies
JB Legal
Just-Us IER
Lawyer-Walkers
LCF crew
Locomotion
Mammoth Legal
Mee’s Village
MHAS Ruthless Bader Ginsburgs
MHAS Smooth Walkers
Public Advocates – Making rights real!
Putting the Self Help in Team
Red Hot Chili Steppers
Rubber Souls
Sacramento Steppers
San Diego Walkers
Self-Help Squad
Skittles and Talia
SMCBA Barristers
Solo Striders
SSCK
STM Sacramento
Team 18
Team Abogatos
Team for the Teamless
Team Galaxy Way
Team LOMAC and friends
Team to Beat – LFSV
Teeth On Legs
TEN Trailing
TEN Walkers
The Billable Hours
The Walking Mambas
These Boots are Made for Walking
Walk Therapy
Walking for Wellness
Walking from the Law
Walking on Fire (CNRA)
Walking on Water (CNRA)
Water Striders
We are not Cats, Your Honor…
Will walk for snacks
Willis Fun
COMMUNITY & RESOURCES
Frank Ring is a teacher, cross-country coach, father, athlete and author known for his virtual run around the border of the United States. Frank compiled an assortment of resources for participants of this walking challenge including a video presentation about the benefits of walking, guided audio tracks, and tips/information about various topics like what to do while walking, proper breathing, back pain relief, and SO MUCH MORE!
The Health and Wellness Committee hosted a weekly Talk and Walk events to encourage challenge participants to take a break, get in some steps, and have an opportunity to engage with others:
08/03, Talk and Walk: Guided Walk with Jacki Elledge
08/10, Talk and Walk: Show and Tell with the Health and Wellness Committee
08/18, “Listen” and Walk: Wellness Wednesday: Fighting America’s #1 Killer Among Kids & Adults with Delicious Food
08/24, Talk and Walk: Show and Tell with the Health and Wellness Committee
08/31, “Listen” and Walk: Managing Re-Entry Anxiety, Return to the Office with Emotional Wellness
To help challenge participants prepare for this five-week activity, the Health and Wellness Committee hosted a program on July 21st with Walking/Yoga Instructor Jacki Elledge to cover the essentials of walking.
Throughout the challenge, participants were encouraged to engage with each other via the CLA Health and wellness Facebook Group. Some individuals chose to share pictures from their walks while others went out of their way to provide helpful resources about walking, proper shoes, hydration, and the like. This Facebook Group continues to be the Committee’s hub to connect with the legal and wellness communities. We welcome you to join the group!
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE CHALLENGE
Deadlines
- The challenge will formally begin on Sunday, August 1, 2021 at 12:00 a.m. (Pacific)
- The deadline to register and form your teams is August 3, 2021. After this date, no additional registrants will be accepted. Anyone who has not formed or joined a team by August 3rd at noon will be assigned a team.
- The challenge will end on September 4, 2021 at 11:59 p.m.
Accessing the Challenge Platform/App
You can access the challenge platform on your web browser or through the iOS or Android mobile apps.
If using one of the mobile apps, you will be prompted to enter our challenge domain which is calawyers – the full domain address is calawyers.bigteamchallenge.com.
- Web browser access (calawyers.bigteamchallenge.com)
- Download the iOS app for Apple devices
- Download the Android app for Android devices
Using the Challenge App
Check out these helpful and quick resources from the app provider, Big Team Challenge. Tutorial videos provided address both the desktop and mobile apps.
Information and Tutorials for New Users
Once the challenge has begun all features of the app platform will become available. You will be able to monitor your personal activities, your team’s activities, and keep tabs on the team leader board. There are also challenge and distance achievements to keep you motivated. The challenge administrator will intermittently send communications to participants – these messages will be visible via email and on the app platform under “Challenge Updates”.
Your Activity & Logging It
Challenge participants will be able to log their step activities via FitBit, Garmin Connect, or manually via the app (manual tracking could be made easier with the use of any pedometer). You can walk, jog, or run whenever and wherever is most convenient for you. If you have synced your FitBit or Garmin Connect with the challenge app, your activity will be automatically updated each time you visit the challenge app. Please note that once the challenge has begun on August 1st, you must join a team in order to begin logging your step activity– see the “TEAMS” section below for more details.
The route is a total of 957 miles, so for teams of five, an equal share would be about 192 miles over the five weeks. A good goal for individuals is to walk at least 38 miles each week or 5 miles per day. On average, a mile is about 2,000 steps. With a daily goal of 5 miles, we challenge participants to walk 10,000 steps each day. While that might sound like a lot, remember all of your steps count. Here are some ideas from the Mayo Clinic to conveniently incorporate more steps into your day:
- Take the dog for a walk. If you don’t have a dog, volunteer to walk dogs at an animal shelter. Or combine your activity with social time by joining a friend to walk his or her dog.
- Try music. A bouncy tune or something with a strong beat can make activity more enjoyable and help motivate you to walk farther or faster.
- Include the family. Instead of an afternoon movie, go for a walk or hike together.
- Walk while waiting. Take a walk instead of sitting when you’re early for an appointment or waiting for a flight.
- Schedule workday walks. Put reminders in your calendar for short walking breaks to ramp up your energy throughout the day. Have a one-on-one meeting? Plan to walk and talk.
- Park farther away. Choose parking spots farther away from the entrance. If you take the bus, get off a stop early and walk the rest of the way.
- Take the stairs. Even going down the stairs counts as steps and burns calories.
Teams
This challenge is designed to be completed by teams of five in five weeks. Smaller teams are technically permitted, but strongly discouraged. The parameters to win or complete the challenge will not vary based on team size – in the end, the first three teams to complete the full route (or get the farthest on the route) win – see the challenge rules for more details.
Anyone of or over the age of 18 years may participate in this challenge. Challenge participants do not need to be members of CLA nor the legal community to be eligible.
You can watch this two-minute video for some guidance on how to join or form a team. Feel free to use the Facebook group to connect with others and form a team. If you have not joined a team by August 3rd at noon, you will be assigned to a team by the challenge administrator. Please note that participants will not be able to begin logging their daily activity until they have joined a team. If you find yourself without a team until the 08/03 deadline, you can retroactively log your activity from 08/01 – 03 (if any) using the manual entry tool on the app platform.
Prizes & Incentives
All challenge participants are eligible to receive a #CLAWellnessChallenge water bottle to help keep you hydrated throughout the challenge. In the registration process you will be prompted to provide your mailing address for this purpose. Water bottles will be distributed via mail in late July/early August to those who have provided full mailing addresses.
The first three eligible teams who complete the entire challenge will receive the prizes noted below – all members of the team will receive one of each item noted. Please note that if a winner has already purchased registration to the CLA Annual Meeting, they will be eligible to receive a refund. Please see the challenge rules for more details.
- 1st Place
- CLA Zip Up Hoodie
- $50 Amazon Gift Card
- Complimentary Registration to CLA’s 2021 Annual Meeting
- 2nd Place
- $25 Amazon Gift Card
- Complimentary Registration to CLA’s 2021 Annual Meeting
- 3rd Place
- Complimentary Registration to CLA’s 2021 Annual Meeting
Rules & Waiver
All challenge participants will need to register online. The final phase of the registration process will be to accept both the rules of the challenge and a waiver and release of liability. The full text of each are provided to you at the time of acknowledgement, but are also available here for reference.
CLA Waiver and Release of Liability, Assumption of Risk, and Indemnity Agreement
Questions & Assistance
If you have any questions about the app platform, please reach out to the app provider, Big Team Challenge, directly. To contact Big Team Challenge, visit the challenge app and click the blue and white circular icon in the lower right corner of your screen. If you have questions about the challenge rules, logistics, prizes, etc., you can contact CLA’s Health and Wellness Committee at Wellness@calawyers.org.