A British fitness influencer has put himself through an endurance test to determine which of three common walking milestones is the hardest to achieve. Sam Culley set out from home at 6am, equipped with only a head torch, a bag of healthy snacks and no headphones, a decision he later regretted.
He aimed to hit at least two of the three targets: 50,000 steps, 50 kilometres walked, or 5,000 calories burned. The early stages were in darkness, but he was rewarded with a beautiful sunrise as the walk progressed. By 15 kilometres, he began to feel the strain, but reached the halfway mark for steps still in good shape.
The calories lagged behind, and at 25 kilometres his tripod collapsed, though he insisted his legs had not. He stopped at 30 kilometres to refuel on protein bars and crisps and change his socks. Difficulty increased sharply around 35 kilometres, worsened by a sudden burst of rain.
He achieved 50,000 steps at roughly the 41 kilometre mark after almost nine hours. His father joined him for the final few kilometres, and together they reached 50 kilometres after ten hours and nine minutes, with 61,685 steps completed. By the end, he had burned 4,746 calories in total, but only just over 3,000 were active calories.
Sam's experiment showed that 50,000 steps was the 'easiest' target. Steps are not a direct measure of distance; for most people, 50,000 steps is about 35–40km, while 50km is a fixed longer distance closer to 65,000–70,000 steps. Burning 5,000 calories would require a much longer walk, sometimes more than 80,000 steps.
