Mount Kilimanjaro: Human Resources Take the Stairs Challenge 2020!
What is the Take the Stairs Campaign?
You may have noticed signs posted by several stairwells and elevators in your building or across campus encouraging you to take the stairs. The Take the Stairs campaign encourages the Columbia community to choose the stairs instead of the elevator as a quick way to add more physical activity into your day while saving electricity.
Why take the stairs?
- If able, stair climbing has many benefits:
- Taking the stairs is good for the environment because it conserves electricity.
- Using the stairs is often faster than waiting for the elevator, especially during peak times. Typically, taking the stairs for trips of 7 floors or less is the fastest way to get to your destination.
- Walking up the stairs burns around 700% the number of calories burned standing in an elevator.
- Just two minutes of stair climbing everyday burns enough calories to eliminate the one pound an average adult gains each year!
- Being active is healthy for your heart, muscles, and bones! Taking the stairs can improve cardiovascular health, good cholesterol, bone density, and muscular strength.
- Overall, being physically active can benefit your physical, mental, and cognitive well-being. Using the stairs can provide you with an energy boost during the work day.
Program Details
Registration : Finalize your registration by filling out a registration survey by Friday, February 28. We will then follow up with challenge materials to get you started.
Challenge Dates: Monday, March 2 - Thursday, April 2, 2020 (28 day challenge)
Eligibility: All Columbia University employees in Columbia University Human Resources
Challenge goal: Challenge teams of colleagues to ‘virtually climb’ Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (2,578 flights; 38,680 steps) in 28 days.
Get together with colleagues to form a team of 4 or 5. Appoint one member as the team captain by Friday, February 28. The team captain will be responsible for:
- Motivating and encouraging team members throughout the challenge
- Reporting the team’s weekly tallies to Daniela Elazari ([email protected]) by every Tuesday by 5 PM! For the final week, team captains are to send weekly tallies by 5 PM on Monday, April 6.
1. Each team member individually tracks their stairs and/or fast-paced [moderately or vigorously intense] starting Monday, March 2.
- Stairs climbed up count – stairs down do not.
- Count the number of flights climbed (not individual stairs). For example, if you go from the 1st Floor to the 4th Floor, count 3 flights. Note: There are 15 steps in an average flight of stairs.
- To track fast paced walking miles, count the number of miles walked at a moderately or vigorously intense pace. Walking a fast pace mile counts as 8 flights of stairs. We encourage you to use a pedometer or smart phone application, such as Map My Walk, to help you track your mileage. Note: There is minimum 1 mile requirement when tracking fast paced miles.
*How can you check your walking intensity? Walking at a “moderately intense” pace means you would be able to talk, but not sing during the activity. If you are engaging in “vigorously-intense” walking, you would not be able to say more than a few words without pausing for a breath.
2. Log your flights climbed daily on your Take the Stairs Climb Challenge Record Sheet.
3. At the end of the week, count up and submit your total number of flights climbed to your team captain.
Note: Each Challenge week consists of 6 days. A week runs from Monday-Sunday. Flights climbed Monday-Friday and either Saturday or Sunday (your choice) count.
- Weekly tallies are due to the Team Captain by 5 PM Monday night of each week of the challenge.
- The final week tally is due to the Team Captain by 5 PM on Friday, April 3.
4. The last day of the Challenge is Thursday, April 2, 2020.
5. Team captains must report final team tallies to Daniela Elazari ([email protected]) by 5 PM on Monday, April 6.
Mount Kilimanjaro, at 19,341 feet above sea level, is located in Tanzania near the border of Kenya. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world. Mount Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcanic mountain and is composed of three distinct volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. Around 25,000 people attempt to climb Mount Kilimanjaro every year.
- A virtual climb of Mount Kilimanjaro requires 38,680 steps or 2,578 flights of stairs to reach the peak. For a 28-day Take the Stairs Challenge, that works out to be about 92 flights per day for a Challenge team of 5 people or 18-19 flights per day per team member.
- Prizes will be awarded to all the team members whose teams reach the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.
- Prizes will also be awarded to the three participants with the highest score at the end of the challenge.
- There will be a celebration with an awards ceremony for all challenge participants at the end of the program, details TBD.
What if I don’t want people to know my score?
- Only your team captain will need to know your total points for the week. If you are still shy, you may want to volunteer to be the team captain.
When are scores due?
- A tally week runs from Monday to the following Sunday, except for the final week (Week 5) which runs from Monday to Thursday. Weekly flight tallies are due to your team captain by the next Monday at 5 PM; the final week tally is due to the Team Captain by 5 PM on Friday, April 3.
What if I am traveling or on vacation?
- Continue the good health behaviors as they can be done anywhere. Report your weekly flight tally to your team captain as soon as possible but no later than the Monday of the following week.
Who checks my accuracy?
- No one, we trust you to accurately report your healthy activity.
Where do I direct my questions?
- Check first with your team captain. If they cannot answer, check in with your contact below.
Contact: For questions on how to count flights or stair conversions and for additional questions, contact Daniela Elazari, Wellness Manager, [email protected].