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A Gerbera Daisy surrounded by some eucalyptus springs sits in the Gold Shoe, which was recaptured in February by Greg McFadden of the Health Professions Tracking Center. |
After missing the January competition to welcome home a new child, McFadden swore to return in February and reclaim the shoe. He did so with a vengeance – his February step total marks a new record for the Gold Shoe competition.
In his absence, Julie Carstens of the Munroe-Meyer Institute claimed the shoe in January with a then-record of 602,528 steps.
“Just so we are clear, I plan to take it back,” McFadden said in early February. “I am going to have to step things up a bit the next few weeks because Ms. Carstens is giving me a bit of a challenge.”
McFadden then upped the ante, noting that after he won the shoe back, he planed to “put a nice gardenia in it.”
While he did reclaim the shoe, he was unable to carry out the part about the gardenia.
“We couldn’t find any,” McFadden said as he welcomed the shoe back to his office last week.
UNMC employees with green thumbs will note that the flower making a home in the Gold Shoe is not a gardenia but rather a Gerbera Daisy surrounded by some eucalyptus springs to “help mask any lingering odor.”
Sandy Latshaw of the School of Allied Health Professions — the first Gold Shoe winner — notched 374,250 steps to take home the Silver Shoe for February.
Carstens, to her credit, racked up 359,523 steps in February despite being laid up for about 10 days with some kind of virus.
Now feeling better, she vowed not to make life so easy on McFadden this month.
Those looking to compete for the March Gold Shoe have until Monday, April 7 to send in monthly step totals. March’s winners will be announced on Monday, April 14.
The following is a list of UNMC employees who have recently reached one of the 250,000-step markers in the 1 Million Step Challenge. Send an e-mail to today@unmc.edu with your name, department and tell us what step milestone you reached and we’ll post it on the list.
1 million steps
- Athena Ramos, Center for Reducing Health Disparities
2.25 million steps
- Maureen Oberdorfer, Office of Regulatory Affairs