
Meet the walkers: David
David, from team A Step in the Right Direction, shares how taking part in the Step Count Challenge motivated him to be more active, and helped him appreciate the natural world on his doorstep.
I’m David and I work for Dundee Heritage Trust, who own and run two tourist attractions in Dundee - Discovery Point and Verdant Works . I’m a Front of House Supervisor and mainly work at Verdant Works, a museum about the Jute and textile history of Dundee.
The Step Count Challenge encourages me to walk more. I tried to use the bus less - I would walk past a few stops before getting on, as well as getting off the bus a few stops before my usual stop. Also, on my days off I would go for walks in the local nature reserve. Tentsmuir is a spectacular location and sometimes I would walk hours through the forest without seeing anybody else. The walks also allowed me to use my photographic skills and take pictures of the local wildlife, plants and scenery.
My team did well during the challenge, and we were always chatting and encouraging each other on our progress. We had a friendly rivalry on who could do the most steps each day. Passing the million steps barrier was great, and so was seeing so many of my teammates doing it too. I finally did over 3 million steps which equated to 500 miles (now how does that song go?!) which was probably why I felt fitter and lost a bit of weight by the end of the challenge.
Even though the challenge is over I am still out walking and exploring the local area, if nothing else it got me into the habit of taking more exercise and not using public transport as much.
Looking forward to taking part next year again.