Step into 2026 Strong with the Get Moving Challenge

Registration is open for the 10-week individual and team fitness contest that begins Jan. 12

A graphic shows a tennis shoe next to the words Get Moving Challenge
The 2025 Get Moving Challenge begins Jan. 13. Graphic by Paul Figuerado

Shanyelle Ward is grateful for Duke’s Get Moving Challenge for two reasons that she hopes to carry with her into the 2026 challenge when it begins in January.

First, of course, is that the challenge encouraged her to remain active soon after she began working at Duke as a Research Specialist and as she moved into her current position as a Grants and Contracts Administrator. Tracking her steps and exercise minutes has been a priority since she lost about 60 pounds five years ago.

And Get Moving Challenge also provided Ward with a recipe for Black Bean Sliders in a weekly email – and those sliders fooled her four children who don’t even like beans.

“I didn’t tell them what was in it, and everyone had seconds,” Ward said of her children, ages 3, 10, 15 and 17. “I just told them they were burgers and they loved them.”

Weekly emails with recipes and encouragement are part of the 2026 season of Get Moving Challenge from LIVE FOR LIVE, Duke’s employee wellness program. Registration is open for the annual 10-week challenge that begins on Jan. 12 and ends on March 16.

Three runners pose for a photo after a 5K
Last year, Shanyelle Ward, center, often ran 5Ks, such as this one with her sister, Keisha Rogers, left, a Grants and Contracts Manager for Duke's Campus Grants Management Team. At right is Ward's son, Diondre Stephens. Photo courtesy of Shanyelle Ward

Individuals and teams log weekly progress in steps taken and activity minutes as part of the challenge. Teams, which can range from five to 11 members, are divided into three leagues for steps – Silver, Gold and Platinum – and two leagues for exercise minutes – Silver and Gold – based on the average number of steps and activity reported by team members at registration.

Participants can also track weight, but it is not a competitive category.

A twist introduced for the 2025 challenge, “GMC Rivals,” returns as a way to challenge other teams in head-to-head competition with bragging rights on the line. Teams can swap affable barbs with their GMC Rivals by sending notes through the Get Moving Challenge website.

Ward said having a rival made it easier for her to encourage the RASinators, the team she captained. It also added a bit of fun that Ward's sister, Grants and Contracts Manager Keisha Rogers, was on her GMC Rivals team, the Grantelopes.

“Come on guys, they’re right on our tail,” she’d tell her teammates. “Let’s get those steps in!”

To encourage long-term healthy habits, participants receive encouraging emails with health promotion tips and recipes throughout the challenge. There are also opportunities to participate in fitness challenges to encourage new exercises and routines.

At the end of 10 weeks, the top individual and team finishers in each league receive a LIVE FOR LIFE prize bundle.

For Ward, the best encouragement has been maintaining the healthy lifestyle she’s worked hard for and inspiring her children – even if they are no longer tricked into thinking those black bean sliders are real hamburgers.

“I’m trying to stay healthy and now my kids are working out, too,” she said. “Even my 3-year-old’s over there with 5-pound weights saying, ‘I’m building muscle!’”

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