I am in a 40k challenge, with others who walk at my level. Last week the winner of the challenge had 74,000 steps, close to twice as many as several people in the challenge. That was frustrating enough, but I see he is back again this week, already after one day having twice as many steps as the rest of us. It appears his normal step count is more than 10k a day. What is the point of dividing up the challenges into step counts if someone with twice as many steps are not moved to a challenge filled with people walking at their level? None of us in this group will ever be able to win this challenge if they don't move him. Does anyone pay any attention to these challenges?
I'm surprised that nobody has hit on the obvious answer yet. Or maybe they have and my tired old brain missed that reply. So here's something to consider on why somebody's step count mysteriously jumps right before the end of the competition. The key word there is it's a competition. So I know I sometimes in the step competitions I will purposely not sync my steps on Sunday until about 11:55 pm that way say if I have a 6,000 step lead on the 2nd place person there's no way they can go out and get in that many steps and beat me with only 5 minutes left in the competition. On the other hand if I synced at say 8 pm then it would be very easy for somebody to go out and kick my butt and of course it's a competition so I don't want that to happen so therefore I sync as late as possible and win probably 95% of the time when I want to win. In cards it's what my family used to call sandbagging where you let your competitors think you're no threat and then all of a sudden you play all of your cards at one time leaving them holding a lot of cards in their hand and you win. The good news for other competitors now is that I've won all the step badges I can win so I no longer feel as competitive and don't really care if I win or lose. As an example in the last weeks competition I could have easily won since all I had to do was about 2,000 more steps in the final 3 hours of the competition and I would have had another win, but since no more badges were available I said forget it and just let the other person have the win. Also, there is another way that people who routinely get in lots of steps can keep coming back to lower step challenges, but I don't want to encourage anybody to do anything that is not too ethical so I won't put that piece of information out there or no new people would ever stand a chance at winning a step competition. Yeah, I know some of you probably say sandbagging isn't ethical, but I don't agree with that line of thinking so I will continue to do so if I ever get the urge to win another step competition. I'll leave you all with a final thought and that is rather than maybe complain about somebody sandbagging and not syncing until the last minute instead just get out there and stomp out more steps than them since it ultimately is all about the number of steps so you can beat a sandbagger. Good luck in the step competitions and remember it's supposed to be a friendly competition so don't get too worked up about winning or losing since if it motivates you to move more then you really are a winner regardless of whether the results board shows you in first or last place.
I was in the 125k weekly challenges in the past weeks. I note that the steps done on Sundays (which for me is the most number of steps in a week) are not always counted. The result reflected in the challenges always shows the steps done from Monday to Saturday. I normally synchronise my device in the morning. Please tell me is there a way to ensure that my steps done on Sundays are counted in the challenges. Thanks.
Without knowing your timezone in relation to what Garmin may use as the timezone basis for the cutoffs for the challenges, it's difficult to say. Their help system says that it allows for 12 hours after the end of the challenge period but not in relation to what though. Perhaps doing as the person who posted prior to you and syncing your device Sunday evenings would work better.
Personally I am wondering if there is anything after the 125 000 steps / week challenge, if not I'll quit the challenges as I'm doing more of both running and walking and don't want dishearten others.
When someone shows 0 activity all day then steps show up later, its likely because they had their phone or watch sync turned off, or phone and watch and/or computer were not in the vicinity to sync. I think sometimes people do it on purpose to win challenges. They hold their steps back so those with competitive juices don't know what they are competing against.
As for people in challenges with much higher or lower steps, it is frustrating. Someone that has a new watch and good # of steps is going to blow through the levels. I have been in the 175,000 step challenge for several weeks now, for a few days now there is someone with 240,000+ steps with one more day in the challenge period left. Yes, they will be moved up but in the meantime, I get second or lower place, no badges. Someone is always passing through on their way up. I find 175k more than enough in a week for me. I'd like to consistently have the same group for a period of time and not have people who pass through confound the rankings.
I can't say I have a great solution, however, I'd ask that we would be able to select our own level and if we feel we want to step up to another level, reset. Yes, there may be people who select a lower level just to win. But there are those of us who select a level to stay motivated and feel challenged.
Without knowing your timezone in relation to what Garmin may use as the timezone basis for the cutoffs for the challenges, it's difficult to say. Their help system says that it allows for 12 hours after the end of the challenge period but not in relation to what though. Perhaps doing as the person who posted prior to you and syncing your device Sunday evenings would work better.
Personally I am wondering if there is anything after the 125 000 steps / week challenge, if not I'll quit the challenges as I'm doing more of both running and walking and don't want dishearten others.
IIRC daisy and i were in the same challenge once and we chatted. I believe she is in a tz more than +8 from UTC
I'm dropped to 55k challenge even though I got 1st place in 60k challenge
I noticed something strange today. I'm now in 55K challenge while last week I was in 60K challenge and got first place, did over 90K steps. How does this work? Normally, I should either be put in the same challenge or the one above, not being dropped to the one below. :confused:
I've been in the 100k challenge the last two weeks but this week I'm in a 95k challenge. I expected to get bumped up since I won both challenges, not down.
