The 10,000 Steps Online Community headquartered at CQU and funded by Queensland Health has reached its 60,000 member milestone. Participanting groups and individuals are now enrolled across Australia.

This has been achieved thanks to the reach of the internet site http://www.10000steps.org.au/ .

The lucky 60,000th member - Ian Hess of Brisbane - will receive a Cardio-Sport Heart Rate Monitor, generously donated by Health Management Group, and a pair of ASICS shoes to the value of $200.

The 10,000 Steps program has been the spark for another participant

He has related his personal story in conjunction with the milestone:

"I registered for the 10,000 Steps program as part of an ENERGEX HR Group 12-week challenge with monthly and overall prizes for teams and individuals.

"The purpose of our challenge is to motivate staff and teams to increase their physical activity and to improve their general health and wellbeing.

"By conducting the challenge over 12 weeks we aim to make a permanent positive change to our daily physical activity levels.

"I have been the Industrial Relations Manager at ENERGEX for the past 3 years. My team also looks after workplace rehabilitation and wellness programs.  We see the 10,000 Steps program as integrating with our broader wellness program that involves health checks, flu vaccinations, skin cancer screening and sponsorship of various sporting events.

"10,000 Steps is a great motivator to get you out of bed on those cold winter mornings to ensure you maintain your baseline of 10,000 steps a day. A 20 minute walk in the morning and evening makes it easy to achieve 10,000 steps.

"However, finding the time to exercise is not always easy. I have found that running or cycling to work is time efficient, especially with the time it takes to commute to work. Sometimes I can ride to work faster than it takes me to drive and it also has environmental benefits.

"I intend to use the 10,000 Steps program to ensure I maintain a consistent base level of fitness to take 5 minutes off my current times for the Bridge to Brisbane and City2Surf runs this year. Improving my fitness for indoor cricket and golf was the main reason I started entering the fun runs. Now I'm committed to running at least 4 marathons a year to ensure I have regular goals. My other hobby is fishing. The downside is you don't manage many steps with a day out on the boat."