Dubai Holding completes 2012 Global Corporate Challenge with over 339 million steps

This year's challenge saw participants from Dubai Holding and its companies recording a total distance of 218,407 kilometres, which equates to walking around the world over 6 times.

Cedric Betis, Wellness Manager, Dubai Holding, stated, "Studies are providing increasing evidence to the correlation between workplace-supported daily physical activity and enhanced performance. Research indicates that 57% of the regional workforce is not spending sufficient time on exercise, a figure we are determined to reduce. This is why we believe that creating a work environment that encourages physical activity is fundamental, and is the founding pillar of our Group Wellness strategy."

Betis added, "We are very pleased with the results of this year's Global Corporate Challenge. The initiative was met with wide enthusiasm including the senior management, reinstating a positive culture of teamwork and healthy living."

The teams' daily average steps were recorded at 13,931 steps a day, which is well above the recommended 10,000 daily steps necessary for reducing risk of chronic diseases and obesity that are often associated with the sedentary nature of today's modern workforce. The teams exhausted almost 13.8 million calories shattering last year's records of 1.7 million calories

The participants recorded their daily activities such as walking, swimming and biking on the Global Corporate Challenge website, which was converted into quantifiable distance, over four months starting 24 May 2012.

As part of its unique Wellness Programme, Dubai Holding encourages its employees to lead healthier and fitter lifestyles and adopt positive behavioural change. In this regard, Dubai Holding has been sponsoring Dubai Marathon since 2008 and Vertical Marathon since 2003. In the past, Dubai Holding has also sponsored the Dubai Women's Run.

The Global Corporate Challenge, in its ninth year, saw over 180,000 participants from 1,500 organisations walk towards changing the behaviour and improving the health of employees. Since its establishment in 2004, over 500,000 participants across 2,500 organisations in 83 countries have benefited from the Challenge.