Thinking about kicking off your step challenge with an individual leaderboard to crown the top stepper in your group? Before you lace up your virtual sneakers and go all-in on that plan, let’s think about that for a second.

We understand the impulse: leaderboards are a lot of fun and a competitive way to get everyone moving. But when you look a little deeper, individual leaderboard challenges are not for everyone – especially larger, more diverse groups.

Let’s talk about when an individual leaderboard challenge might not be right for you, and what you should do instead.

The Problem With Individual Leaderboards

In most groups, there’s a wide range of fitness levels. You might have a 25-year-old marathon runner, a 55-year-old recovering from a knee injury, and everything in between.

When you pit everyone against each other in a single leaderboard, it usually ends up being fun for... well, the top 5. If you're not one of the super steppers, it's easy to feel left in the dust. Cue frustration, disengagement, and a silent but earnest vow to never join a challenge again.

It Can Also Be a Participation Killer

We’ve seen it firsthand, when the top of the leaderboard is dominated by just a few individuals, everyone else tends to check out. If participants have a bad experience in your first challenge, they’re way less likely to sign up for the next one.

Why You Shouldn’t Reward the Top Stepper

We also know it’s tempting to dangle a shiny prize in front of the #1 spot. But here’s our strong (like, really strong) recommendation: Do not offer a large prize for the top stepper.

We have found that 99 out of 100 times, a prize will lead to cheating. We’re not just talking about a little bit of cheating. We’re talking serious step inflation. Trust us, we’ve seen it all.

It can also spark frustration and resentment among the honest participants. Not exactly the wellness vibes any of us would be going for!

Better Alternatives to the Individual Leaderboard

The good news is you can still bring competitive energy to your challenge without making it a footrace between your most elite athletes. Here are some fun, inclusive ways to make your challenge a hit for everyone:

1. Team Leaderboard Challenge

Let participants form their own teams and create fun, punny team names. It’s okay if the teams are different sizes. On Stridekick, we score team competitions based on an average activity per team member, which evens the playing field between teams of different sizes.

Pros of a team leaderboard: 

• Levels the playing field amongst a wide variety of fitness levels
• Encourages teamwork and team bonding
• Brings people together across your group
• Gives everyone a chance to contribute
• Still keeps that fun, ultra competitive vibe alive

Also, it’s way more fun to win with your friends than against them.

2. Virtual Race Challenge

This is one of our favorites. Each participant works toward completing a big distance goal, like 80-miles through one of our 20+ map themes. There’s still a leaderboard, but the main focus is on reaching your distance goal and crossing the finish line before the challenge ends.

Why it works:

• Everyone gets a personal goal, so fitness level doesn’t matter
  
• This mode still includes a leaderboard for the competitive folks
  
• This keeps mid-pack and newer participants engaged
• As participants move through the map, they unlock fun milestones full of surprises, motivating participants every step of the way.
  
• You get to pick from fun, scenic virtual routes! Some of our tap maps are London City Tour, Trek through National Parks, Summer Olympics and Haunted Halloween. 

Plus, even after someone reaches the finish line, their distance keeps counting, so your top movers still get their moment in the spotlight.

3. Streak Challenge With Personalized Goals

Let participants set a daily goal within a range you set, for example, between 5,000 and 15,000 steps. Participants will try to reach this goal every day. The longer their hot streak, the better! 

This format:

• Encourages consistency
  
• Allows for personal goal setting, making sure the daily goal is realistic for everyone
  
• Keeps motivation high throughout the challenge
  
• Works for any fitness level

4. Segmented Leaderboards

Still want to use an individual leaderboard? Try splitting it up according to fitness level!

Let participants opt into a leaderboard based on their typical daily steps. For example, create a leaderboard for common ranges of activity:

• 0–5K steps/day
  
• 5K–10K steps/day
  
• 10K–15K steps/day

This lets people compete as smaller groups with others in a similar activity range, which feels way more fair and fun!

You can also create activity-based leaderboards for different interests. For example:

• Cyclists, swimmers, or runners can try a distance leaderboard
  
• Strength training, yoga, or pilates fans can try an active minutes leaderboard

This way, everyone can get credit for moving in their own way.

Smarter Ways to Reward Participants 🎉

Instead of rewarding the top stepper (which incentivizes cheating), try one of these ideas:

• Most Improved: Celebrate someone who significantly increased their activity
  
• Most Consistent: Reward participants who stuck with it every day
  
• Goal Getters: Run a streak, stick to it, target, or virtual race challenge and enter everyone who hits their goal into a raffle-style prize draw

This keeps things fair, motivates everyone, and still brings the excitement of winning.

So, Should You Run an Individual Leaderboard Challenge?

Only if you:

• Have a small group (think under 20 people)
  
• Know everyone’s fitness level is pretty similar
  
• Aren’t tying it to a big prize for a top stepper

Otherwise, you’re better off with a more inclusive, engaging challenge format. You’ll get better participation, happier members, and way fewer angry emails about suspicious step counts. 😉

Final Thoughts ✨

At Stridekick, we’re all about helping you build fun, inclusive, and motivating fitness challenges. Individual leaderboards can work in very specific cases, but most of the time, they just don’t make sense for big, diverse groups.

So go ahead, try a virtual race, create a team showdown, or encourage some epic streaks. You’ll be surprised how much more fun your challenge can be.

Need help picking the right format? Reach out to our team! We’re happy to help you find the perfect fit for your group.