Bogus challenge

I used to run to work. That meant 2 runs per day on weekdays. One 10k run in the morning, another in the evening, That - combined with steps done walking in between - would easily get me 25000 steps within 10 hours. Heck, I got the 60-day goal getter badge doing over 15000 steps per day (on some days much more than 15000) for over 60 consecutive days. I have lots of days with over 35000 steps. All that without cheating.

So, yeah, nothing particularly suspicious about doing 29000 steps in 12 hours, although definitely not easy when done regularly.

That said, there are most certainly people who do cheat.

Wouldn't running and stepping be classified differently within the challenge?

You do steps when running, so they count exactly in the same way as when you walk. I do daily 15-30k steps easily too, although I am an IT man and sitting most of the time behind the desk at home.

... besides that, when doing challenges, you can also act tactically and avoid syncing the last day until the last moment, letting the competitors the false impression they are leading, in the meantime doing your 50k daily steps hike or run, and syncing only once the midnight is over (normally you have time till the noon of the next day, in fact).

I usually do a 5k every day, walking, but I'm not getting those numbers.

Well, at least it will motivate you to move a bit more. And that's exactly the purpose of the Challenges.

I did the step challenge for 2 weeks, first week, 150,000 or so, 2nd week 151,569. Its easy to do as long as you put the time in. I can walk 20k steps a day if I feel like it. As an example I walked 26k last Saturday with 2200 ft ascent, took 6.5 hours solid walking and combined with the rest of the day I ended up with 42,000 steps.

I have opted out as I find the "challenge" pointless, you are put with 9 people you don't know, there is no interaction or comments from anybody, and there is no incentive, I am quite happy doing what I am doing on my own.

What I am amazed at is how on earth do you do 500,000 steps a week that is 71,428 a day every day. That is a serious amount of time.

I also think its better to walk than run, running steps are longer therefore for any given distance you will have less steps.

Short legs would also help the step count, although I am not suggesting surgery. !!!