Irish Life encourages Kildare clubs to keep up in Ireland’s largest annual steps challenge
Irish Life is encouraging people from Kildare to sign up and keep stepping in the Irish Life Every Step Counts Challenge – Ireland’s largest steps challenge. Launched on January 11 and running until February 15, the Irish Life GAA Healthy Clubs Challenge 2023 aims to encourage a healthier Ireland and participants can join at any time before the challenge ends.
The top Kildare clubs include Kilcullen GAA club, Ardclough GAA Club, Clogherinkoe/Broadford GAA Club Participants can join the Irish Life Every Step Counts Challenge, available through Irish Life’s MyLife app, at any time 786 GAA clubs have registered for the Irish Life Every Step Counts Challenge, with 112 from Connacht, 251 from Leinster, 211 from Munster and 212 from Ulster 42% of clubs nationwide, have already walked more than the 4,000km goal.
Kildare has 23 GAA clubs participating in the Irish Life Every Step Counts Challenge, with the current leading clubs named as:
Kilcullen GAA club, 20,398 kilometres walked
Ardclough GAA Club, 9,823 kilometres walked
Clogherinkoe/Broadford GAA Club, 8,067 kilometres walked
The top counties in Leinster are named as:
Dublin, 208,212 kilometres walked
Meath, 171,513 kilometres walked
Wicklow, 129,021 kilometres walked
The 2022 Irish Life Health of the Nation research found that people in Ireland are exercising less and feeling more isolated. The challenge aims to address this by bringing local communities together while supporting a healthy and active lifestyle. Launched on 11 January and running until 15 February, the Irish Life Every Step Counts Challenge is encouraging GAA Club members and non-members to get stepping towards a goal of 4,000km per club, with the chance of winning one of three sports vouchers from the €5,000 prize fund available in each province.
The research showed the number of people aged 35 - 54 describing themselves as feeling lonely or isolated has almost doubled since 2019 (increasing from 19% to 34%). The research also revealed that more than 50% of adults find it difficult to motivate themselves. The Irish Life Every Step Counts Challenge offers community members a safe and open space to get active and involved with their community. Participants from previous steps challenges claimed exercising in groups encouraged them to continue their exercise for longer and also promoted a sense of community and accountability.
The 2021 and 2022 Irish Life Every Step Counts Challenges motivated more than 28,000 participants from almost 700 clubs, tracking over 5 million kilometres each year. Irish Life’s ambition in 2023 is to have over 800 clubs in the challenge with representation from every county and will be encouraging participants to strive for 6 million kilometres.
The five-week challenge will also help participants who increase their steps by 2,000 per day to improve their overall health and reduce their risk of developing dementia1 and dying from cancer and cardiovascular disease2.
Commenting on the ongoing challenge, Professor Niall Moyna, School of Health & Human Performance at DCU said “So far, we’ve seen a fantastic turnout for the 2023 Irish Life Every Step Counts Challenge and I am pleased to see so many people getting out walking and being active in their communities. The overall impact walking and steps challenges have had on public health long-term is incalculable – a recent study saw that each additional 2,000 steps per day – up to 10,000 – was associated with 8-11% fewer deaths and a decreased risk of both heart disease and cancer. That is why challenges such as the Irish Life Every Step Counts Challenge are so important, they bring people together with a common goal, ensuring a greater chance of success and also a sense of accomplishment, community and support.”
Commenting on the Irish Life Every Step Counts Challenge, Stacey Machesney, Head of Health and Wellbeing at Irish Life said, “At Irish Life, we want to help people live healthier and fuller lives. At the halfway point of our Irish Life Every Step Counts Challenge, we’re delighted to see nearly 800 clubs signed up, with thousands of participants joining in the challenge. The midway results speak for themselves, with a number of clubs already reaching the 4,000km target and many more clubs growing their teams daily. We’d like to remind people that they can join the Irish Life Every Step Counts Challenge at any time before the challenge ends on 15 February.
"In the past few years, our sponsorship of Irish Life GAA Healthy Clubs has gone from strength to strength, with the entire community benefiting when a local club is provided with the skills, information and guidance to improve health, and we know the Irish Life Every Step Counts Challenge will be a great example of this. I encourage everyone to get out and get involved in the challenge and cannot wait to see how much more is accomplished.”
Challenges like the Irish Life Every Step Counts Challenge, available through Irish Life’s MyLife app offer the perfect way to keep participants engaged with their activity, accountable to their goals, rewarded and connected with their teams through an app.