Project 61 – The Spring 2026 61-Day Step Challenge Project
Ron, congratulations on winning the Project 61 Spring Step Challenge! You logged an amazing 1,605,309 steps between April 1 and May 30. That’s about 760 miles and an average of 26,755 steps—or roughly 13 miles—every single day. Let’s talk about how you did it.
Before the challenge started, what was your typical daily activity level?
Ron-Before the challenge I would walk during lunch and break time, depending on the weather, but it had to be close to perfect. I have always worked out. My normal workout schedule is working out twice on Tuesdays, once on Thursdays, twice on Fridays and three hours on Saturdays.
Walk us through a typical day. How did you fit 26,755 steps into your schedule?
Ron-First I found out I could walk 2500 steps in thirty minutes and 5000 in an hour. I then started in earnest, walking at home for thirty minutes before coming to work, then arriving early for work, I would walk from 7:30 until 8:00 when my day started. Then from 10:30 – 11:00 while on break, and then I walked during my lunch break. My lunch consisted of something that was handheld or out of a bowl while I would walk the track. For those two months I never had a sit-down lunch. Then before leaving work, I walked 30- 60 minutes. My goal was to have at least 20,000 steps in before leaving work for the day. Early on, I noticed, the leaders were walking more steps than I was able to. Speaking with a co-worker, I learned about a portable treadmill, called a walking pad. Sometime in late May, I bought a walking pad, and I then incorporated a walk after getting home from work at the top of every hour for 20 minutes from 6p.m. until midnight. Weekends were a little different, I would get my chores finished and start walking at 2:00 pm. Before the walking pad, I would walk around Wal-Mart, walking tracks or up and down my hallway and around my house to get the steps in.
What was the biggest challenge in maintaining 13 miles a day for two straight months?
Ron – The steps were there. I just had to do it. I think never sitting while eating lunch was difficult some days.
Were there days when you didn’t feel like walking? How did you push through?
Ron-Trust me, there were those days. After May, my knees started aching and my ankles were showing signs of all the steps. I iced and used pain relievers and kept going.
Why did you join the challenge?
Ron-I joined thinking I could lose some weight during the challenge, never thinking I could win. And the weight, did it come off? Ron – Yes, I lost 26 pounds during the 2 months.
All these steps, did you wear out any shoes?
Ron – I did wear out a pair of shoes and several pairs of socks!
At what point did you realize you might have a chance to win?
Ron – I noticed that the people at the top were averaging 30,000 steps, so I tried to stay with them. I was motivated by another Cargo Transporters employee, Amy Winebarger, to walk more, she really motivated me. Amy ended up coming in 7th place overall with 1,277,028 steps.
What accomplishments are you most proud of from this challenge?
Ron – I was proud to make it through, to stay consistent with my steps, but to actually win the challenge was something I wasn’t expecting. Also, the last two weeks that I led the pack, which was very awesome.
Does one day or accomplishment stand out?
Ron – I tracked all my days, so yes, the day I crossed over 1 million steps stands out for me, that happened on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to increase their activity level but feels overwhelmed?
Ron – If you think about it, I wasn’t walking at a fast pace, I was just walking. If you can walk 15 minutes at a stretch, you can walk 2500 steps in 30 minutes, if you can’t do 30, do 15 minutes, break it down into 15 minutes segments, to begin with. You aren’t speedwalking, just a natural walk. If you can do 15-minute segments, four times a day, you can make a difference in your health and build stamina. Increasing those segments as you can.
Cargo Transporters had several employees in the Top 100 Finishers in the nation-wide Project 61 Spring Challenge:
Amy Winebarger-7th place
Michael Short-49th place
Greg Selix-58th place
Dennis Dellinger -83rd place.
