Egnyters Unite for The Summer Challenge

Summer has come to an end, and Fall has started. And that means the end of one of Egnyte’s most competitive events –The Summer Challenge! The Summer Challenge is a fitness competition for all employees across the world, encouraging participants to focus on a healthy lifestyle, and giving back to the community.  

The Summer Challenge included 211 active participants and they contributed to the contest by logging over 15,099 fitness hours (wow!). They were assigned to eight teams based on location in Draper, UT, Raleigh, NC, Spokane, WA Mountain View, CA, India, Poland, United Kingdom, and remote employees. And yes, that means healthy competition between locations takes place. Since charity is one of the primary motivators of the event, the entire charity budget was divided into each team based on the percentage of their team in the total participation.   

The Summer Challenge also had mini-competitions that encouraged participants to share photos of their fitness journey. Some of these included the most breathtaking workout, the farthest trek, and an epic bike ride challenge.  

Przemyslaw Serewa from the Poland team won “The Most Breathtaking Workout”.  

Przemyslaw told us more about his photo, “During my family vacation this year, I had the opportunity to visit the Tatra Mountains in Poland. During hikes, I had the chance to visit several beautiful places, but the most impressive one for me was the Kościeliska Valley. It’s a beautiful, approximately 9km (5.5 miles) long, trail amidst various rock formations and trees.” He also enjoyed participating in the Summer Challenge, “I like that the Egnyte Summer Challenge combines two important things. We can care for our health through physical activity and support charitable organizations! It’s always important to help others!” 

Jacek Handke won The Farthest Trek challenge with an astounding 62 km/38 mi walk! Jacek stated, “I love the Summer Challenge because it is an opportunity to engage in sporting activities with other Egnyters and have fun." He engaged every step of the way.   

Michal Daniluk won the Epic Bike Ride Challenge with a 93-mile ride in Italy. He kept his spirits high during the challenge, “The most epic bike ride is around Garda Lake in Italy. This event, for me, is extraordinary. It's a long, one-shot ride, far from my home - over 1,000 km. I know it's only a few hours of effort, but it's a way to disconnect myself from daily duties and enjoy the effort.” 

Many people shared photos along the way that encouraged participation and showcased the fun they had. This even included a healthy meal consisting of a Buddha bowl with baked chickpeas, sweet potato, halloumi cheese, avocado, tomatoes, dried apricots, walnuts, and charred lemon vinaigrette. 

Another participant enjoyed a hike to the Mica Peak. It’s a mountain summit in the United States located approximately 5.49 miles (9 km) apart, one in Spokane County, Washington, and the other in Kootenai County, Idaho. 

Along with scenic views, some Egnyters even worked out and did amazing things in their Egnyte-branded clothing. Sometimes, gravity was not even an issue! 

Even with all the fun, hard work, and dedication, there could only be one winner. Our winner was Amey Paranjape from the India team. Amey had some words of wisdom after winning the Summer Challenge, “I started my fitness challenge in March (Indian summer) to get fit/lose some weight. The Egnyte Summer Challenge was a great way to push my journey and get better. My favorite quote for fitness is, it never gets easier; you get better.” Amey contributed significantly to achieving $2,932.50 for charity. His efforts were beneficial not only for himself but for the community as well.  

We are thankful to all participants of the 2023 Summer Challenge and look forward to the next one! 

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