Have you heard of virtual races before? Have you ever participated in one?
Virtual races are races where you sign up for a distance (5k, 10k, 1/2 marathon, or marathon) and run the distance on your own. You are provided with a personalized race bib AND a medal upon completing your race. How cool is that? Virtual races are a great way to keep yourself motivated, add miles to your training schedule, or just add some additional bling to your collection.
Jost Running is a family owned and operated company with the goal to bring people together regardless of their location and physical distance from one another. Jost Running has four distances each month with two specially designed medals each month. They suggest weeks when you should “run your race,” but as long as you complete it in the given month you are all set.
So how does it work exactly?
First, of course, you have to register for your race. Prices are a bit cheaper than a regular race because they don’t have all the additional costs associate with a REAL race. 5k/10k distances are $25 and the Half/Full distances are $35. AND you get a personalized bib and medal!
One thing I like is that you can send in your race times and they will post them to their website. Even though I’m a slow runner, I do like seeing how I compare to other race participants. Plus I think it adds to the whole idea of keeping you motivated.
I’ve always wanted to try out virtual races. I have some friends that are self-proclaimed “bling junkies” who do virtual races just so that they can add to their collection. I could run a race on my terms, keep myself motivated, add miles to my month total, AND get some bling!? Yes please! So when I was given the opportunity to partner with Jost Running and try out their virtual races I was super excited.
Over the next three months I will have the opportunity to participate in all of their race distances. I plan to use these races as a way to keep myself motivated for my upcoming races. Between February 1st and April 13th I will be running 3 half marathons – the most I’ve ever run in such a short period of time. I know that it will be super easy to slack off in between the races, but I know that I need to keep my mileage up. I’m hoping the the promise of bright shiny new metals will keep me motivated!
PS – I’ll be giving away a free race entry for January towards the end of this month, so keep an eye out for that.
