News

Competitive mother-daughter duo are step challenge champs

September 8th, 2021

There was a lot of action in and around the Gibb household in August. Darcie Gibb, the Wellness & Safety Coordinator for Points West Living’s operations company Connecting Care, and her daughter Denna finished the Steps2MentalHealth walking challenge in the top two individual walker spots. It was very close.

Neck & neck

The two were neck and neck, averaging more than 50-thousand steps a day, until the last two days, when Denna pulled 80-thousand steps ahead of her mother for a conclusive win. Another family member, Draidyn finished in 8th place with an impressive 436-thousand steps. “Draidyn was sick, and started a bit late,” explains Darcie.

Denna clocked a total of 1,127,673 steps (about 860 km), and Darcie got 1,046,201. How did they do that much walking? To start with, they both confess to be being very competitive. Then there's their regular activity around their home near Chauvin east of Wainwright. “We work on the farm,” says Darcie, “so there’s checking on the cows on all pastures; you can walk the gravel roads, walk down to the creek. Denna did take up running, in prep for cross country this fall, and over one weekend had 18 hours of volleyball.”

Walking through life journey

“I had started working out every day before work,” says Darcie. “My mom was sick and passed away in the middle of July, so I’m on my own little journey. Steps2MentalHealth did help with grief for my mom. Denna would say, 'Are you coming to walk with me, and I’d say 'okay'.”

Keeping up with the puppy

Plus, there was a dog. “My other daughter’s dog is a pup,” Darcie says. “He went on lots of our walks, and made us walk faster because he’s a pup and wants to go. He sees a bird and is off and we need to keep up.”

The Gibbs were walking for the Home Office team, which finished in 3rd place, just behind the Points West Living Cold Lake group, and Providence Place in Daysland.

Top resident stepper

The top finisher among individual residents was in 3rd place overall, with an amazing 629,764 steps. Watch for that story in the next PWL Newsletter on September 24.

Photo: Denna Gibb (left); Darcie Gibb and Denna; and the running shoes that went the distance.