Shortly before Christmas, I discovered a new concept that looks like
it's been popular among US runners for some time - Virtual Races. I had
never heard of them before until they started showing up on my twitter feed and
even then it was some time before I bothered to read up on them.
This virtual race organiser, Will Run for Bling and Charity describes a virtual race
as "A virtual race is a race that can be ran at any location. You can
walk, use the treadmill, run outside or participate in another race. You
can run your race at your pace wherever you like."
You sign up in the same way as a normal race, entering online and paying
your fee. You choose your distance (usually
anything from 5k to marathon or over). You get an email with a race bib that you
print off. Then, you run (more on that,
later!). At the end you submit your
time, usually with proof such as photo of your watch, a Garmin upload screenshot,
smartphone app, or just a photo of you looking hot and sweaty with your race
number pinned on to your top. Social
media is a big part of the race, and everyone is encourage to get online and
meet their fellow runners around the world.
Finally, there is often a theme, whatever the organiser decides will be
fun and popular! Monthly races are
usually based on the season, such as February is valentines themed and December
is Christmas themed. Or there are movies
and TV shows – there was even a Doctor Who 50th Anniversary race!
Well at
first I was definitely in two minds about the whole concept and wasn’t surprised
I hadn’t heard of them in the UK yet. I thought, well may be they are great for new
runners or those who don’t have the money or time to travel to an actual race
and just want to grab their friends together for their first 10k in the park. On the other hand, the event itself is the
best bit, and virtual racing cuts all of that out!! Plus if you want anything tangible – usually a
medal, they cost money, and some of the US races seemed very expensive for what
is essentially a solo run ($25-$40!).
But then I discovered that most of the payment went to charity, and that
nearly all runs were set up in order to raise money to begin with, which made
it a bit better. Obviously I can’t see the
majority of runners deciding to go and pay money to do a run by themselves but
there is a growing community out there including one or two UK communities.
I have a
very strong feeling that the main two reasons for doing these are for a small
group to run together and motivate each other in the same way they would a
race, and secondly for the medal. Most
of the websites have no shame in saying their runners LOVE bling, and by rewarding
entrants with big, shiny medals then the runners enjoy coming back for more. I have to admit, some of the medals are quite
awesome and it’s no wonder they are often sold out. But does it count if they are not part of a “real-life”
event?
So instead
of thinking about it, I decided to enter one and make up my mind. Two in
fact – a well-established looking US virtual race series, and a smaller UK
series, one of which I’ve finished. The
other I am yet to do!
The first
was a movie-themed race with Will Run for Bling and Charity and was
based on Top Gun. There was a choice of
5k, 10k, or half marathon and you had to do your run within a 4 week window. I submitted my entry as the 10k, as I was
literally just about to do my 26.2 Roman Run and wasn’t sure I was up for a
half marathon within 4 weeks, but secretly I thought to myself I would like to
do one of each distance in that timespan (although you only needed to submit
one time). The medal was very eye
catching, an awesome-looking fighter jet with the words “Top Gun Run” in the
famous movie font beneath, and 5k/10k/Half Marathon below that and also printed
on the ribbon. If people only do these
for the medals, I can see why, but I was still a bit apprehensive as I entered
my credit card details for an amount slightly more than what I would pay for a small,
local 10k. At least the profits would go
to charity – the American Diabetes Association.
So mid-December, I set a date and went for my virtual 10k. To be honest, it was just a normal run, but I
did print out my bib and wear it so it felt a bit more special. It also felt like I was making myself more
accountable – I knew I had to do this, as it was “race day”, and although I was
tired from the Roman Run I still wanted to try and race myself!! When I got back, it was quite fun going on their
facebook site and sending in a screenshot of my Garmin upload then commenting
on each other’s photos/posts. There were
loads of other runners around the world, plenty with photos of themselves
holding their medals or back from their own virtual run wearing race bibs. This was actually the best bit about it, and
gave it a good community feel. The
results also go up on the site (they use an honour system) so you can see where
you came and congratulate your fellow racers.
Some time later, the medal did indeed show up, and it’s rather
stunning! No wonder so many people take
part in these! I guess if the only real expenditure
for the organiser is getting medals made and shipped out, and no costs in
actually organising an actual event, you do get some special bling. It is by far the biggest medal I own.
The other race is with Virtual Runner UK, and this time it will be fun
to run with other Brits. There was a 5k
and 10k option here, so I chose the 10k. I do usually find these distances tough unless
I’m doing an easy run – I prefer either a shorter, sharper 5k or a slower,
tempo 8 or 10 miles. So this is again
making me accountable for doing a fast 10k – they are good training! The medal is much more modest, but it was a
very cheap race to enter, just a few pounds and again goes to charity. Let’s see how it goes when I set a date for sometime
before the end of January!
At the end of the day, I expect it won’t hit off with most runners as it
is basically just paying money to do something you normally do, without the
benefit of being in an organised race. I
can’t see myself doing one very often, but I might sign up for one for a few
special occasions. I can't be spending £5-£15 every few weeks just for this reason - although at least there's no travel and hotel costs involved so might work out a lot cheaper than doing actual races every other weekend! Some other reasons I thought
would be a benefit would be if you have a distance race in the future, and want
more motivation for your training runs. So
if you have a marathon coming up, and need to do a 13 mile run in the training plan
but there are no races around the correct time, a virtual race might be more
motivating than just another long slow weekend run. Especially if it’s your first time hitting
that distance, then the medal will really feel worth it. I am thinking I might sign up for a
marathon-distance virtual race before my ultra, so I can be more motivated for
the really long final runs and have a mini-reward along the way to see me
through.
If you have friends doing the couch to 5k, and want to run together then
a virtual race could be a great gift for them if they can’t or doing feel ready
to do a race yet. Or if you’re really
competitive with friends who are at a similar standard but live in different
parts of the country, you might decide to enter a virtual race and race each
other that way. Finally there are races
which reward you for not just doing one race, but committing to a series of
runs over the year adding up to a total number of miles or runs. This could be a great way to celebrate a
personal target with others, the popular one at the moment seems to be “14 in
2014” – 14 races of a chosen distance in 2014.
Or 2014 miles in 2014. At the end
you order your medal. Ok so anyone could
just buy one and say they have done it, but I can’t imagine non-runners are
going to have much of an incentive to pay out money (and it’s not pennies,
either) and just pretend to do a run that anyone can do at any time. I suppose the cynical among us could also
argue that it’s just making our sport into a spending/consumerism spree with
more emphasis on shiny, glittery trinkets and less on actual running and
fitness. I’ll let someone else argue
that though since I love shiny glittery things!
And finally, if you really want to celebrate a special day, there’s
always the Birthday or seasonable virtual races, where you commit to running on
your birthday, Christmas, New Year’s Day etc and have a fun medal to show for
it, even if there was no real race you could take part it.
Best of both worlds? Get together
a group of friends, sign up for a virtual 5k with the blingy-est medal you can find or a charity that is close to you all,
head a popular Parkrun on a Saturday morning and all try and run a PB :)
Some websites offering virtual races:
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