Being Well in the
Community

Global 50k Challenge

In June 2017, a group of employees in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil came up with a challenge. The idea which started as a bet between friends was to encourage employees in Rio and elsewhere in the world to run 50 km (about 31 miles) per month. Whoever didn’t make the monthly goal would have to donate R$50.00 to charity. And for each person who reached the 50 km goal, Equinix Impact would donate R$100.00.

“The coolest thing about this project is that it’s independent and community-based,” says Rodrigo Castro, one of the founders of the project. “You can run or walk wherever you are in the world, whenever you’re available. And the end of the day you have helped yourself and others.”

Laura Freitas, another Equinix employee who helped to start the group, says it did more than encourage people to get active. “We have a group on WhatsApp about the club where we send pictures and meet up for runs. We’ll talk about it in the office, and it starts a lot of conversation and brings in new people.”

The challenge has spread beyond Rio, with employees joining via Strava from locations as far away as Spain, California, and even Poland. Since the project’s founding in June 2017 through December 2018, our employees have run a total of 27,516 miles. And the charitable impact has been significant: The club’s participants have raised $10,260 USD including the Equinix match. In short, they’ve managed to be well, do good, and stay connected in community, even across countries and continents.