The Leicester-Shire & Rutland Sport Workplace Challenge Activity Log saw a sprint finish take place, as last minute activities were logged before the close at midnight on Sunday 11th March. The second year of the Challenge saw 1172 participants racking up points and prizes!

Throughout the 8 week programme which challenged workplaces from across Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland to get more active, over 27,000 hours of physical activity were logged, equating to over 3 years worth of pulse-raising exercise!

165 workplaces accepted the challenge to become more active and compete against other businesses across the counties to win points, prizes and bragging rights. Over 30 prizes have been awarded to individuals for their efforts, many thanks to the sponsors for providing these great prizes.

Ashmount School in Loughborough got off to a great start and managed to fight off close rivalry for the rest of the competition to be the winning workplace, with the highest average activity points. They are the lucky winners of two Business Season Tickets for Leicester Tigers for the 2012/13 season.

David Deacon, Deputy Head at Ashmount School, said: "We're really pleased to have come first in the Workplace Challenge for a second year running. It has fitted in well with our overall drive for staff health and wellbeing, and has had a huge boost on morale across the whole team. We've found that a fit and healthy staff team makes for a fit and healthy school. We will definitely continue to promote more active lifestyles amongst our staff and students!"

Sam Sharpe from PASCO (pictured) achieved the highest total of activity points in the individual category - an astonishing 80,600 points - and wins a bike courtesy of Pedal Power. Sam, who trains as an amateur boxer out of work, said: "The Challenge has been a great way for me to keep track of my exercise regime and monitor my weight levels which is really important for my sport!"

The category for the department with the highest average activity points was won by the kitchen staff at Gartree High School in Oadby, who were awarded with a free health assessment for their workplace courtesy of Happy to be Healthy!

There were also prizes for participants that helped to cut down on CO2 emissions by opting for alternative methods of transport such as cycling or walking to work. The individual victorious in this category was Dean Morris from Leicestershire County Council, who saved an inspirational 1768 kg's worth of emissions. For those of us that can't quite relate to this, it equates to approximately 8,000 miles in a small car! Dean was awarded a free bike courtesy of Pedal Power for all his eco-friendly exercise and talked about his experiences of the Challenge:

"The Workplace Challenge has really generated a buzz within my office. By being awarded points for keeping fit, myself and my colleagues have fed off the friendly rivalry to up our fitness programmes and increase our fitness. I have found this has helped me to stay focussed, even through the cold weather, with my training programme. I have cut back on using the car and will continue with this!"

The workplace with the highest CO2 saving was the University Hospitals of Leicester, and within their workplace, the Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Comprehensive Local Research Network (LNR CLRN) won the category for the most CO2 saved by a department. University Hospitals of Leicester have won £400 to encourage physical activity to their staff, and the LNR CLRN have all been awarded with free health assessments courtesy of Optimum Performance Personal Training.

Bryony Jones commented on behalf of the University Hospitals of Leicester: "Staff from the Leicestershire, Northamptonshire & Rutland Comprehensive Local Research Network have thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the Workplace Challenge. It has encouraged us all to do more exercise and save on CO2 by biking and walking to work.

"Our network is hosted by the University Hospitals of Leicester and we have enjoyed the friendly competition between the departments. We are going to continue the ethos of enjoying exercise with work colleagues and have organised a rounders match in May... thank you LRS for inspiring us to get fit!"