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  • Olympic outcome at Fera!
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Olympic outcome at Fera!

Fera staff have contributed over £200 to the British Heart Foundation following the completion of their very own ‘Walk to Olympus’ challenge.     

The event was undertaken as part of  the Civil Service Physical Activity Challenge, which is open to all Civil Service organisations to show their commitment to a fitter and healthier workforce by encouraging staff to ‘get physical’.      

Scientists and support staff formed themselves into teams of eight, with each participant wearing a pedometer for 50 days to record the number of steps completed in a day.  The distance from York (the location of Fera’s main laboratory) to Mount Olympus is roughly 2000 miles, and the average number of paces in a mile is about 2000.  Teams competed against themselves and each other to see who could be the first to reach Olympus!   Cycling, swimming and other activities were also converted into ‘steps’ and counted towards the challenge. 

Certificates were awarded for the top female, male and team performances.  Over 240,490,309 steps were walked by 450 members of staff, who are already looking forward to next year’s challenge!