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Creative Ways to Run a Leaderboard Challenge banner image

Creative Ways to Run a Leaderboard Challenge

AnthonyJul 29, 2020

What is a Leaderboard challenge?

A Leaderboard challenge is a competition ranking users from highest-to-lowest performance based on who can get the most steps or active minutes. Leaderboards are our most competitive mode and are sure to bring out the competition between your friends and family!

When creating your Leaderboard challenge, you will need to choose to compete based on total step count or active minutes. Next, choose when your challenge will start and how long you want your challenge to run (from 1-31 days). You can then give your challenge a creative name, add a fun description to get your participants excited, and you are ready to get stepping!

Why choose a Leaderboard challenge?

  • Leaderboard challenges are a great way to let your competitive side come out!
  • You can easily compare your progress against other participants
  • They’re the perfect way to engage the friends and family in your life who can’t stand to lose (you know who you are!)
  • You’ll always have a clearcut frontrunner to work to beat (or a last place to try to avoid!)

Types of Leaderboard Challenges

Before we share a few of our favorite Leaderboard challenge ideas, here's a quick overview of how you can structure your leaderboard challenge.

Classic Leaderboard: Whoever places at the top wins this classic challenge. Earn the top spot to get the ultimate glory and bragging rights!

Classic Leaderboard + Prize: Just like a Classic Leaderboard, but with an added element of a prize! Prize ideas can vary, and we’ve included some fun ideas to get you started below.

Reverse Leaderboard: In Reverse Leaderboard challenges, the focus isn’t on who gets the top spot. Instead, the goal is simply to not be in last place!

Reverse Leaderboard + Prize: Just like a Classic Leaderboard, but with a prize for all winners at the loser’s expense for an extra incentive to avoid last place. See our examples below for inspiration!

Challenge Ideas for any Group

Beat "Anthony" - Classic Leaderboard

Is there a person in your group you’d love to beat just once? Name your challenge after the person in the group with the highest step average and see if anyone can beat them over the duration of the challenge. In other words, the goal is to make sure that whoever’s name is in the challenge doesn’t reach the top of the leaderboard!

We are going to… - Classic Leaderboard + Prize

Let the winner really take all by allowing them to pick where everyone else is going. Whether it’s a restaurant, an amusement park, or a museum, the winner gets to decide for everyone else on where your group is heading next!

Winner Takes All! - Classic Leaderboard + Prize

For this leaderboard challenge idea, everyone agrees to contribute something to the challenge that the winner of the challenge will gain. It can be money, a gift card, candy, a subscription, treating them to their favorite take-out, etc. Whoever ends up at the top of the leaderboard will gain that prize!

The Rotten Egg Challenge - Reverse Leaderboard

Rather than focusing on the top of the leaderboard and declaring a single winner, run this challenge to try to escape last place. Have fun trying to stay as far as possible from the bottom spot—last one’s a rotten egg!

Have a Slice Day! - Reverse Leaderboard + Prize

This is a fun leaderboard challenge idea in which the person who ends up at the bottom of the leaderboard has to buy pizza for everyone else. Don’t forget to mention what your favorite pizza is in the chat. If this doesn’t get people stepping, I don’t know what will!

stridekick leaderboard graphic

Family Challenges

Family Face-Off! - Classic Leaderboard

In this competition classic, compete with family members near and far to claim your spot at the top of the leaderboard. Don’t be afraid to check in on each other in the chat for some friendly smack talk—it’s anybody’s game!

Age is But a Number - Classic Leaderboard / Reverse Leaderboard

Invite multiple generations to this challenge to compete to prove that age is really just a number. Take guesses in the challenge chat to see who everyone predicts will be at the top of the leaderboard at challenge end! For a twist, run this as a Reverse Leaderboard to see who’s been slacking!

Not it! Dishes Edition - Reverse Leaderboard + Prize

Always fighting about who will wash the dishes next? You don’t have to worry about that anymore! With this leaderboard challenge, the person who ends up at the bottom of the leaderboard will have to wash the dishes. Of course, you can choose whether that’ll be for a day, a week, etc. and for other chores, too! (Take out the Trash Edition, Sweep & Mop Edition, Mow the Lawn Edition, etc.)

family walking on a sidewalk

Themed Challenges

Beast Mode Week - Classic Leaderboard

If you’re looking for a shorter challenge, try challenging your friends to a “Beast Mode” week! For this week, encourage your group to strive to step or move as much as they can. Have fun pushing yourself and see how your stats compare to other members of your group.

I Put the Lit in Literature - Classic Leaderboard

Book club members rejoice! If you are in a book club or even manage one, a leaderboard challenge is a super fun way to add a friendly competition to the club and get to know each other more outside of your reading interests. Try naming your challenge after the book you’re reading that month, and have fun discussing what books you might want to read next in chat.

Get Moving for a Cause - Classic Leaderboard + Prize

In this classic leaderboard, each participant pitches in a designated amount of money to participate. At the end of the challenge, collect all of your funds together and allow the winner to pick which charity to donate your money towards!

Cancun, Here We Come! - Classic Leaderboard + Prize

This is a great leaderboard challenge if you want to kickstart a goal with your friends in trying to get more fit for a vacation together. The winner can get a free drink once they arrive to their vacation destination (that everyone else pitches in for). With the same goal, this competition will for sure get spicy!

Run, Forrest, Run! - Reverse Leaderboard

If you have a film club or love watching movies with friends, this is the perfect way to add in an additional aspect. You can create a reverse leaderboard challenge where the loser brings popcorn & candy to your next movie! For an added twist, run this as a Classic Leaderboard + Prize where the prize is choosing your next movie.

Mr./Mrs. Irrelevant - Reverse Leaderboard

Every year the National Football League drafts hundreds of players, but the very last person picked is crowned “Mr. Irrelevant.” Run this scenario out with your friend group to see who would be the “last pick” in your own sports competition!

Boost up the fun with our chat feature

Any leaderboard challenge you create will also include its own chat thread to allow all of your challenge participants to chat together. Share some friendly smack-talk with your family or friends here, update each other on your progress, discuss prizes, make friendly bets, and more. Send pictures of where you’re getting your steps or active minutes in for the day and add fun reactions to messages to keep the conversation going!

stridekick chat graphic

Now, create your own challenge and get moving!

Try out these ideas or to edit them to your liking. The possibilities are truly endless, and we’re excited to see what you come up with for your next activity challenge. Happy stepping!

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