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Over 8,000 people participated in the virtual walk with the smart phone health and wellness app ayubo.life out of a total base of 13,000+, to participate in the 115 kilometre walk to Kandy (W2K) taking 170,234 steps across 25 days. The 36-day public virtual walkathon, flagged off a month ago, culminated on World Health Day on Saturday 7 April.
W2K tagged as the most rewarding ‘virtual walkathon’ to-date, dished out 15,000 prizes that the virtual walkers uncovered as ‘treasures’. An initiative to encourage the walking habit and thereby incentivise fitness, W2K rewarded participants who completed the virtual trip at a fun event held to mark World Health Day. Natasha Liyanage, among the 10 finalists of W2K challenge walked away with the grand prize of a million rupees.
Along the way, virtual walkers picked up many ‘treasures’ including some cool prizes such as sneakers and walking shoes, vouchers for weekends at hotel resorts, nutrition and wellness supplements and food. Altogether, 15,000 such prizes were dished out with some very enthusiastic ‘walkers’ describing their journey as ‘quite an experience’.
Choosing World Health Day on 7 April as an opportunity to mobilise action for health and wellness, ayubo.life announced its next exciting challenge – the arduous Mt. Everest climb along with Johann Peiris, famed for his attempt to conquer Mt Everest back in 2016 but fell an agonising 448 metres short due to his oxygen tank’s malfunctioning. Peiris has embarked on his second attempt of completing the target and left for the Himalayas a few days ago.
ayubo.life will climb with Johann to support Johann Peiris’s journey to conquer the legendary mountain. An estimated 320,000 steps are to be taken in total to reach the summit virtually, with steps made by each and every participant going towards financing part of the expedition. Users are able to further support Johann by donating as little as Rs. 100 via this new challenge.
ayubo.life Director and Chief Operating Officer Dr. Chamila Ariyananda speaking on the success of the initial walkathon, said, “Participation was unprecedented and the enthusiasm has been heartwarming. This alone is such an achievement for us.”
“Now you can be part of this momentous endeavour of climbing Mt Everest with Johann and conquer the summit, while being an active part of the expedition,” she urged.
Dr. Ariyananda while thanking the sponsors, added that ayubo.life was particularly happy to celebrate World Health Day with the dual purpose of concluding the successful first challenge, W2K, the virtual walkathon to Kandy and to announce the Mt. Everest expedition, keeping in mind the larger, national goal of controlling the increase of non-communicable diseases through health and wellness, which “must become a way of life for all,” she stated.
ayubo.life is a lifestyle, health and wellness app, providing a comprehensive platform for all who need to stay healthy; while taking them on a wellness journey with many engaging activities. It connects multiple healthcare services, stores family medical records, facilitates on-demand consultations with doctors and other experts on video, keeps a record of workouts, while partnering with experts in the wellness industry to provide online wellness solutions. ayubo.life is owned and operated by Digital Healthcare Solutions Ltd., a company funded and supported by Hemas Holdings PLC.