Locomotive operator Dennis Williams has broken the New Zealand records for the number of steps walked while taking part in the national 10,000 Steps health programme.
Mr Williams was a member of KiwiRail Group's Tranz Metro Leg Byes team who took part in the eight-week programme during which 900 KiwiRail staff from Whangarei to Invercargill donned pedometers and completed half a billion steps.
The programme attracted 20,000 participants in the last 12 months from many organisations around the country, and has been going for five years, raising awareness over how walking can combat many life-shortening diseases.
Mr Williams managed over 2,533,410 steps in just eight weeks, a New Zealand record. His highest week included striding for 372,165 steps, comfortably beating the previous record holder who was training for the Ironman Taupo challenge.
He says his efforts were inspired by his wife, his grandsons, and also by a colleague who engaged in a friendly rivalry. "I walked for several hours in the morning, then walked my wife to school and did another two hours before work."
Tranz Metro colleagues confirm he was seen hitting the pavements in all parts of Wellington, morning and evening, as well as being on his feet at work.
Everyone involved was organised into a workplace team of 10 and each given a pedometer to record their daily step count.
