Five million step challenge for Bone Cancer Research
Dave Cosgrove, a member of staff at RNN Group, has completed five million steps to raise money for Bone Cancer Research, which is an incredible achievement.
Here is Dave’s story:
“During the Christmas period of 2023 I wanted to set myself a challenge to try and lose weight in 2024. I didn’t want the challenge to be over after a month, I wanted to try and find something that would be testing, but manageable, and would last a full year. “
“I looked on the internet for challenges that people have completed in the past and that’s when I saw the five million step challenge which averages around 13,700 steps per day, every day.“
“To help encourage me, I decided to raise money for charity. I chose Bone Cancer Research as my wonderful cousin, Zoe, is a doctor who travels around the country raising awareness of this disease. Zoe has dedicated her life to finding a cure after losing her mum, my aunty, to this disease at the tender age of 39. Zoe was 13. My original plan was to try and raise £1,000. As of October, with money still coming in, I’ve raised over £1,650.“
“The walking has been relentless since 2nd January. I’ve walked most dinners and most evenings. Woken at 6am nearly every Saturday and walked 10 miles before the family have woken. On my work’s wellbeing day, I walked 26.2 miles with my son. I organised the 10 mile staff walk that was part of the #OneTeam day at Manvers Lake.“
“I’ve had many days where I have walked well over 30,000 steps, with 58,000 being my biggest day. As part of this challenge, I’ve had tremendous support from work colleagues, so much so, we have created three walking groups, one for each campus, where staff join me on my dinner time walks. We are recording all the walks on a tracker and have set the same 5 million steps for the group.“
“Most dinners we have staff walking in their lunch breaks instead of sitting at their desks. Staff feel refreshed and ready for the afternoon. Staff are also using their wellbeing days for walks, and these are recorded on the tracker. At the time of writing, the group were at 4.9 million steps with over 800 individual walks recorded.”
When asked about his best memories, Dave said,
“Three memories spring to mind when I look back on my challenge. Firstly, quite early in January, staff from all campuses wanted to join me on my challenge. We set three groups up and named them ‘Dearne Valley Dawdlers’, ‘Worksop Waddlers’ and the ‘Rotherham Ramblers’. This was a great encouragement for me and made me more determined.“
“Second memory was my wellbeing day when my son and I walked 26.2 miles in 8 hours. It was a wonderful experience and the furthest I’ve ever walked. We laughed, talked about anything and everything, and even cursed each other for the last couple of miles when the legs and feet were aching.“
“Finally, and perhaps the most emotional part of the challenge, was the day I passed five million steps. North Notts college had planned a wonderful surprise, when the reception area was full of staff and students after we completed our walk. That will stay with me forever.”
And Dave’s advice to others:
“When planning a challenge, try and get people involved. The encouragement will keep you going. My colleagues have been wonderful, even joining me on some of my evening walks outside of work time.“
“Overall, it’s been a fantastic experience. I managed to finish before the end of September, 3 months earlier than planned. Once I got the walking bug, I enjoyed finding new walks. I’ve had lovely walks through the Lake District, Trans Pennine Trail and visiting National Trust properties. I’m 52, so walking is a wonderful way to exercise without putting strain on my joints.“
“I smashed the step challenge, I smashed my sponsorship target, I’ve lost weight, I feel better and I’ve learnt things about my work colleagues that I would have never known if we didn’t go on walks. Work talk was forbidden.“
“Until the next challenge……!”
To donate to Dave’s incredible achievement, please click the button below: