While I will return to a race course for longer distances like half marathons where the support is helpful (hydration stations, first aid), the potential to race every weekend without leaving my house at 6:00 am and returning at noon is a great reason to keep a few virtual races in my schedule. Pacing by feel rather than the speed of nearby racers, has also made me a stronger, faster, more efficient runner. I enjoy having my previous track record as my only competition. I often spend much of a road race weaving around other runners during the first mile, ultimately going out too fast and burning out too soon. The you-versus-you element is compelling. While I plan to sprint back to the energy and excitement of in-person racing as soon as it’s safe, virtual racing will hold a permanent spot in my annual racing calendar. Run Guides is a fantastic resource for most upcoming races.
Your local race organizer is likely hosting virtual events as well, which is a great opportunity to help keep a small business in your area afloat.
Organizations like the Colon Cancer Foundation, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and American Cancer Society run events that give participants a way to add meaning to their miles, by completing a physical challenge while raising money for a cause. While your own course may not take you through Times Square as the real thing does, you’ll still earn a hefty medal and the chance to run “alongside” other athletes through the fitness app Strava. It has been notoriously tough to gain entry into New York City’s NYC Half Marathon since the inaugural race in 2006. Virtual racing also presents a great opportunity to try a sought-after race. The company will also plant a tree each time a participant reaches a set milestone in the challenge. Along the way, they receive virtual postcards with information about the history of the region and the route. Everest Challenge), select a goal timeframe (which can be changed anytime), track their progress in the company’s app, and receive a medal in the mail when they complete the event. Registrants choose an event based on location and distance (I’m working on the 40-mile Mt.
Roadrunner shape collage series#
Founded in 2016, the Conqueror Event Series has seen an uptick in interest for its challenges in the past year. Some race organizers offer an opportunity to travel virtually to bucket-list destinations. The R4AW team is working on its next event, to take place later this year. As we logged our miles in the Racery app, we received notifications on the historical significance of milestones along the route in the crusade for Civil Rights. In September, along with 7,000 other athletes, through Run 4 All Women (R4AW), I completed a 680-mile virtual run from Atlanta to Washington, DC, to raise funds and awareness for Black Voters Matter.
Roadrunner shape collage registration#
While this type of racing will never replace the best elements of the real thing-exchanging nervous glances at packet pickup, listening to the cacophony of hundreds of watches connecting to GPS in anticipation of the starting gun, sharing sweaty high fives-it’s a capable understudy.Īs part of their pivot, most race organizers have also added online communities where runners can encourage one another (or see each other’s progress and get competitive), and some provide training programs as part of the registration fee. What this method of racing is missing, however, is precisely what has been absent from all elements of our lives for the last year: company. The starting time and place and race route are anywhere you choose. Participants hit the road (or treadmill) on their own to complete a distance set by a race organizer, track their progress on a watch or phone, upload the data to an online platform, and receive a commemorative medal by mail. What virtual racing lacks in other humans, it makes up for in flexibility (and no lines for porta-potties). Actually, I could do without that last one. Like most runners, I thrive on organized racing: the encouragement of the crowd, the camaraderie of other runners, the anticipation of the post-race celebration, the acrid scent of overcrowded outhouses. Had you told me a year ago that I would be embarking on my sixth virtual race, I would have spit out my Gatorade. I tap into that last store of energy and break the tape at my front door, as my toddler leaps up and down yelling, “Go, Mommy, go!” Bending down for my daughter to place a medal around my neck, I smile at the homemade “FINISH” sign hanging above my head.
There is silence, and then shrieks of recognition as the spectators see a runner headed down the chute. Closing in on a personal record, I round the final turn to the half marathon finish line.
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