A barangay in Pasig City on Monday, May 16, gave incentives to some participants of the city's first-ever Virtual Steps Challenge as it aims to promote a healthy and active lifestyle among its residents amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Barangay San Antonio (BSA) Chairman Raymond Lising, in partnership with Race Yaya founder and CEO Tin Ferrera, organized the event not just to improve the lifestyle of the public, but also to boost camaraderie among BSA's residents.
Lising said participants uploaded their garnered steps at the website of Race Yaya where they could also see the progress of their neighbors through the dashboard of the website.
To entice residents to participate, BSA offered redeemable vouchers to those who logged over 100,000 steps during the month of April.
“Vouchers include gym membership pass, coupon from Vamos, T8 Gear and Apparel, coupon from Simple Hydration, vouchers from Salon, restaurant discounts, among others,” Lising said.
Those who walked an average of 100,000 to 199,000 steps got the Bronze Award with P1,000 worth of vouchers; those between 200,000 to 299,000 received the Silver Award with P1,500 worth of vouchers; while the ones with 300,000 steps and above are given the Gold Award with P3,000 worth of vouchers.
The Top 3 Participants who logged the most number of steps were Raymond Bansale with 614,340 steps, Jerome Estavillo with 614,464 steps, and Ann Jillian Pulanco with 631,528 steps.
Lising extended his gratitude to Race Yaya for helping their barangay become active amid the pandemic.
“With the help of Race Yaya, we can keep our kabarangays healthy and give them a friendly challenge that improves their well-being. We want them to build this walking or jogging habit until it becomes part of their lifestyle,” Lising said.
“Like what experts said, having an active lifestyle is important during the pandemic. Eating healthy alone is not enough. We must be active,” he added.
Ferrera emphasized the importance of having an active lifestyle especially during this pandemic.
“The event was participated in by almost 350 registrants: 50 percent are from the barangay while the rest are from all over the Metro and around the Philippines. We even had a few overseas participants. Around 20 million steps were logged in a month with almost a hundred reaching the gold, silver, and bronze status. Perhaps, one of the most inspiring turnout for us in a virtual challenge. Several lives were changed, they took the first step," Ferrera said.