Is A Virtual Race Really A Race?
The current COVID-19 pandemic has caused havoc across the country and around the world. The number of people affected by the virus is astounding. From the loss of life to the economic impact, everyone is impacted somehow.
If we set aside for a moment the truly unimaginable toll this virus is taking on human lives, healthcare workers and first responders as well as the millions of Americans losing their jobs in retail, manufacturing, food service and so many other industries, there are other far less critical implications as well.
Spring is race season
In the running community, Spring is the start of race season in much of the country. Many of us have been faithfully running in the cold, dark days of Winter while looking forward to a Spring race. Having a race on the calendar for March, April or May is a great motivator when the temperatures are single digits in January and February but your training plan calls for eight or ten miles.
Races were late casualties
As the Coronavirus spread and the CDC issued stronger guidelines regarding social distancing, event promoters across the country began to cancel or postpone concerts, festivals and other large events. Crowds of hundreds or thousands of people were discouraged and then banned. For a while it appeared that some race directors were holding out hope that running races would not fall victim because the runners would be spread out on the course and are not in direct contact with each other. But soon enough it became clear that races posed the same threat as other large gatherings so they became another casualty of this fast-spreading, unpredictable virus.
Cancel, postpone or go Viral?
If you’ve ever volunteered at a race you have likely gotten a glimpse of how difficult it is to stage a running event. Any event with hundreds of people is complex, but a race poses different challenges than most. A concert or sports game played on a field happen in a confined area. Yes, there are a lot of logistics to coordinate in a concert, but a race is a unique event as it requires securing the course over miles of roads in addition to the start/finish area. Many volunteers and local support agencies are needed along the route for directions, security, crowd control and emergencies. When a race needs to be cancelled it’s not simply a matter of selecting another date later in the year. All of those volunteers and agencies need to be recruited and secured for another date, which is not always possible. If an alternate date can’t be found, most events must be cancelled. But a new phenomenon has begun in recent years in the running community – Virtual races. Unlike attending a concert or participating in a baseball or soccer game, you can run a race alone. You don’t need a team, officials or even competition. Since virtual races have been gaining in popularity race directors now have that option also.
If a virtual race works for you, Go for it!
Different people run races for different reasons. Some need a race as motivation to train. Some use it as a measure of how they’ve progressed. Some like the competition of racing against others. And some like the awards and medals. I must admit, I’m “all of the above.” Races on my calendar give me motivation to train harder and I like to see how much better I can get race to race or even year to year in the same event. I also have found I really like the competition as I’ve worked on speed training and have placed or won some races recently. But I also like the awards and medals.
When I first heard of virtual races I thought they were just money-making scams by some company trying to get people to buy a medal without putting the effort or cost into hosting a real event. But I now see some of them a little differently. If it’s just a company basically selling a downloadable race bid and shipping you a medal, I still don’t like it. But some virtual races require you to share your time from your watch or running app which feels more like a race. Some of the recently cancelled races are now adding fund-raising for COVID-19-related causes to their virtual races. In these times of social distancing I especially understand the benefit of interacting virtually with others and sharing your activities and results. So, if a virtual race appeals to you, go ahead and register, print your bib, lace up your shoes and Go For It!
And once the “shelter in place” guidelines are lifted, I’ll see you at the races!