Collaboration + Connection
Walktober 2020
About Walktober
McLaren’s step challenge for the month of October is open to all staff and members of our AEC community.
Every step you take contributes to McLaren’s donation towards a charity that is dedicated to educating the AEC community of tomorrow. There will also be prizes for the top winning teams! The total number of steps of the top 5 steppers in each team will be counted toward the team’s total.
Log Your Steps
Step Calculation Tips
- 1 mile is equal to about 2,000 steps. An average person has a stride length of approximately 2.1 to 2.5 feet. That means that it takes over 2,000 steps to walk one mile; and 10,000 steps would be almost 5 miles. A sedentary person may only average 1,000 to 3,000 steps a day.
- A sedentary person usually does less than 5,000 steps per day.
- A low active person usually does 5,000 to 7,499 steps per day.
- A Somewhat active person usually does 7,500 to 9,999 steps per day.
- An active person usually does more than 10,000 steps per day.
- A Highly active person does more than 12,500.
- Here is a helpful activity to steps conversion guide.
What the Teams Are Up To
I really like the message of the sign! -Theresa R 
Bill G sees a sign! 
Double signage examples: The iconic Domino Sugar sign (red, right) and the newer Under Armor sign (pink, left), as seen from across the harbor on a foggy night. -Victoria C 
Yay signage! -Mia H 
Times Square! -Wilson R 
McLaren Swag! -Jules L 
We are McLaren! -Robin S 
McLaren’s LED Signage work in Times Square! -Matt S 
Signs + Displays at Ellis Island. -Denisa M 
Apparently breakfast is cancelled. -Matt K 
My riff raff on the rip rap (aka my girls). -Theresa R 
Found rip rap at Port 5 – the National Naval Veteran’s Association’s social club adjacent to his parking deck in Bridgeport, CT. -Jules L 
Found rip rap! -Elena H 
Rip rap gathering. -Jesse C 
Rip rap and the moon! -Robin S 
Didn’t have to go far… installed mini-rip rap around my bilco door after heavy rains in August. -Matt K 
Looks like Victoria found rip rap! 
Rip rap along Pine Meadow Lake in Harriman State Park, NY. -Taylor Z 
Rip rap at Toney’s Brook in Glen Ridge, NJ. -Mia H 
Meadowlands riprap scavenger hunt #futureengineers.-Denisa M 
Rip rap at the bulkhead along Sea Cliff Beach. -Peter K 
Nice try to our rap ripper…but that’s NOT RIP RAP. 
Went running on Randall’s island and found some rip rap next to the NYPD marina at the north end of the island. That’s the Bronx/Manhattan leg of the RFK bridge (formerly known as the triboro bridge) in the background. -Matt S 
Walking through the pumpkin patch at Saratoga Spa State Park, a National Historic Landmark. -Mal M 
At the William Cullen Bryant Memorial in Bryant Park. It’s a bronze statue created by Herbert Adams and was installed in 1911, the year the New York Public Library Main Branch building was completed. -Mia H 
Walked by Sunnyside Queen’s iconic archway during my late night walk /grocery shopping around the neighborhood. -Sergio S 
From the hills above Lake George on Saturday but take note of the T-shirt emblem – Old Guys Rule! That would be Team A. -Mal M 
With my Walktober accountability buddy, Fred at the MECU Pavilion – a McLaren landmark project in downtown Baltimore. -Victoria C 
How is this 91 steps per minute, mom? -Denisa M 
At Gore Mountain, the home of the first ski patrol. -Matt K 
1856 First-Order Fresnel Lens and the lighthouse it illuminated. -Virginia W 
A view of this classic landmark, at the top point of our Sunday hike. -Elena H 
Checking out downtown Orlando’s Lake Eola Fountain. -Andrew H 
Went on a long run past Belvedere Castle in Central Park, a McLaren landmark project! -Matt S 
Yep I did it, the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge Walkway! There and back 7.2 miles. -Sue S 
At the P.T. Barnum monument. Not only was he an outlandish showman, he was also mayor of Bridgeport, CT. -Jules L 
At the WHEC 37, the last surviving warship from the attack on Pearl Harbor. -Theresa R 
Got in some extra steps on Huguenot Street. -Robin S 
Winter Garden, FL was a tiny farmers/orange groves town. This is my church, built in 1922. -Bill G 
Double bridge! I’m smiling, I promise. -Elena H 
Hiking in NJ last Saturday. -Carol J 
Night steps. -Virginia W 
On my afternoon walks I pass the NAIB Cable stayed bridge that McLaren did an inspection on. -Theresa R 
Late night bike home from the office. -Jesse C 
On a bridge over Rooster River in CT. It divides Bridgeport from Fairfield. -Jules L 
Found a bridge during our park photoshoot after our socially-distant wedding this weekend! -Caitlin C 
Bergen County, NJ Bridge Brdge McLaren Family Scavenger Hunt. -Denisa M 
Getting in my steps on the Appalachian Trail. -Stephanie R 
Enjoyed a picnic on the beach near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. – Ashley L 
Saw a McLaren NYC Ferry landing mid-run Saturday. -Matt S 
Surfski! -Ray F 
The closest bridge to my home is a McLaren project! -Tricia H 
Getting some steps in with my newphew. -Robin S 
Team D! -Bill G 
Walktober kickoff at the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge Walkway! -Donna M 
Scavenger Hunt Challenge
In addition to getting our steps we will be doing a fun scavenger hunt challenge! Each week there will be a new photo challenge idea. These photos will be shared on the website for all to see, and those of you who submit photos will be entered into a weekly raffle for $20 (1 entry per week). At the end of the month we will do 1 final raffle where all photo submitters are re-entered into a drawing. As a BONUS, if your photo includes a McLaren project or McLaren wear you will get 2 entries for that photo in the month-end drawing!
- Bonus Drawing
- Winner – Jules L
- Challenge Weeks 4 + 5 – Take a picture of signage.
- Winner – Wilson R
- Challenge Week 3 – Take a picture of riprap.
- Winner – Elena H
- Challenge Week 2 – Take a picture of a landmark.
- Winner – Victoria C
- Challenge Week 1 – Take a picture of a bridge.
- Winner – Donna M
Leading Teams
updated weekly
Fun Walking Facts
- A person walks 65,000 miles in their lifetime – that’s equivalent to walking three times around the earth.
- Walking increases blood flow to the brain and improves your mood.
- Walking for 10 miles every week would eliminate 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year.
- To burn off a plain M&M candy, you would need to walk the length of a football field.
- A 15-minute walk can curb chocolate and sugar cravings.
- The average human walking speed is 3.1 miles per hour.
- Walking 6,000 steps a day will help improve your health and walking 10,000 will help you lose weight.
- Walking can boost creativity by up to 60 percent.
- A lunchtime walk can make you more productive at work.
- Walking just 21 minutes a day can cut your risk of heart disease by 30 percent.
- Focusing on an object ahead of you can increase your speed by as much as 23 percent.
- Walking uphill activates three times more muscle fibers than walking on flat terrain. It also burns up to 60 percent more calories.
Schedule
- Walktober starts, October 1st
- Enter your steps by Wednesday for your steps to be counted for that week.
- The last day to physically get your steps in is Saturday, October 31st.
- Last day to enter steps into the spreadsheet, Wednesday, November 4th.
- Winners announced, the first week of November.
FAQ
- How do I log my steps?
- Enter your steps into the google doc above, Log Your Steps. There is one sheet per team, and you can access your team by selecting the tab (tabs are located on the bottom of the page) or using the link in the Instructions tab. Then enter your daily step total under your column name. Please don’t modify anything other than your personal steps in the spreadsheet.
- Do I have to hit save on the google doc?
- No, everything you enter is automatically saved.
- Do I have to enter my steps every day?
- No, you can enter them any day or even once a week. However, if you want to be counted in the Weekly Update, you should have your steps entered by Wednesday COB or Thursday 9am.
- If I don’t enter by steps by Wednesdays COB or Thursdays by 9am will my steps still be counted?
- Yes, they will still be counted. They will just be reflected in the next week’s Weekly Update count.
- How do I see my team’s progress?
- You can see live progress of your team’s steps as you enter your steps. We will do weekly data collection for progress updates that will be shared on this page. This weekly data collection will be done Thursdays at 9AM, so make sure your updates are in by then if you want to be counted for that week’s progress.
- How long does the challenge last?
- October 1-31
- Do I need an app or a special device to join?
- Not at all. Most smartphones have health apps already installed on them that will track your steps, and there are also lots of free apps you can download that will do this. However, if you don’t have a device that tracks your steps, or if you tend to walk without your phone on you, see the Step Calculate Tips above. Also, each team sheet has some helpful step conversions, for your reference.
- I am recovering from knee surgery, would joining be a detriment to my team?
- Speak with your physician. The goal of Walktober is to get moving. Every step you take (at your own pace) can be a win towards collaboration, connection and wellness.
- Is there a prize for the winning team or a larger incentive we are working toward?
- The score per team will be taken as the sum of the top 5 steppers on each team. All members of the winning team will receive a $50 gift card to our new McLaren Land’s End Store, where you get to pick customizable McLaren gear of your own choosing.
- There will also be a prize towards charity. We will ALL be stepping towards a goal of 20 million total steps! For those who like numbers, this works out to about 7,500 steps/day/person, or about 3.5 miles per day. If we hit this goal McLaren will donate $2,000 to an AEC charity.
- How do I participate in the scavenger hunt?
- Submit weekly challenge photos by emailing them and a brief description to your McLaren contact or Robin Smith. By submitting your photos you are giving McLaren permission to use and post the photos publicly.