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413,000 Miles, 46,000 Exercise Hours and 3,554 Pounds

Employees set fitness records for during annual Get Moving Challenge

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Elizabeth Barry, center right with black T-shirt, poses with exercise classmates at Anchor Studio in Durham. Barry tries to work out for three to four hours a day before, during and after work. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Barry.

It wasn’t long ago that Wickliffe Shreve was in good enough shape to run 26 miles. But in the past three years, as work and studying for a graduate degree got in the way, focusing on his overall wellness dropped off.

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But armed with new motivation after a HealthCheck with LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke’s employee wellness program revealed he had high blood pressure, Shreve joined LIVE FOR LIFE’s Get Moving Challenge. In 10 weeks from January through late March, Shreve, a reference librarian and lecturing fellow at Duke Law School, lost 21 pounds and is back into a regular exercise routine. 

“The OCD competitive side of me took over a bit to keep me going,” said Shreve, who finished among the top-20 Get Moving competitors in both steps taken and minutes exercised. “I started taking advantage of any opportunity to move more, whether I would get up to refill my coffee, use the restroom or get some water. I was strategically inefficient in daily routine to make sure I walked a little extra or went around the building to get something.” 

Along with Shreve’s effort, 2,011 other faculty and staff joined the Get Moving Challenge, accumulating 413,000 miles, tallying about 46,000 hours of exercise and dropped a combined 3,554 pounds. All three marks set new records for the program, while the distance logged and exercise minutes both eclipsed last year’s high marks by 32 and 25 percent, respectively.

New this year, participants compared progress to the “Blue Devil Pace Setter,” which allowed competitors to see how their numbers compared to exercise recommendations of the American College of Sports Medicine and Mayo Clinic, which recommend at least 10,00 steps a day and 150 minutes of exercise a week. 

“Knowing I should at least get 10,000 steps a day helped kick me a little bit, so I added a couple thousand more to know I was being active,” Shreve said. 

Finding motivation wasn’t a problem for Elizabeth Barry, a help desk manager in the Pratt School of Engineering. With help from LIVE FOR LIFE programs like Pathways to Change and Steps to Health, she started a habit of exercising three to four hours a day, which helped her lose 112 pounds over two years. Competing with coworkers in Pratt, Barry led all competitors in exercise minutes during the Get Moving Challenge, amassing 14,833 exercise minutes, about 2,000 more than the next closest competitor. 

“I have an Apple Watch that reminds me of exercise, a Jawbone that lets me know if I’m idle for 15 straight minutes, people I meet for exercise and apps to track my minutes,” said Barry, who swims, takes cardio dance classes, rock climbs and more. “It’s about finding things to keep you accountable and hitting it from all different sides.”

Even though the Get Moving Challenge has concluded, other LIVE FOR LIFE programs are available for faculty and staff:

  • Run/Walk Club – Meets Mondays and Wednesdays on East and West campuses, as well as Duke and Raleigh hospitals.
  • Duke Fitness Club – Provides discount memberships to fitness facilities throughout central North Carolina.
  • Free fitness consultations - One-on-one meetings with a Fitness Specialist to learn ways to improve your fitness level. Schedule an appointment by calling (919) 684-3136, option 1, or fill out an online request.

Find a full list of LIVE FOR LIFE programs on the program’s website.