We recently interviewed some of our virtual race organizers. We learned more about how our virtual challenges created a unique combination of motivation and community for their groups. Here are some highlights of what they experienced, with links to their full stories.  

(In a hurry and don’t have time to read these stories? Good news—launching a free test virtual race just takes a few clicks. Or. check out our new, easy-to-launch virtual 5k fundraisers or their features! Or check out what virtual race sponsors say about us on Facebook!)

Wheelchair Athlete – Chris Fletcher

@christoffletch organized a race for his colleagues. | “I do the fitness thing better when I’m challenged by other people, so I got people at work involved. It’s a pretty active group overall. Peer pressure is on as soon as we hit go.”

[ read my story ]

HR director – Lisa Hara

@LisaHR organized a race for her colleagues. | “This was a creative way to get our employees involved in ShowingTime’s Wellness Program. People were so involved in trying to out-do each other they forgot  they were doing something good for themselves.”

[ read my story ]

Cyclist – Sarah Tacker

@Sarah2.0  replaced her paper map with our race and invite others to join. |  “I invited a virtual friend from MyFitnessPal. I don’t even know where that person lives, but they’re logging their miles and we cheer each other on.”

[ read my story ]

Runner – Steph Bryant

@stephbryant invited members of her running group, plus others. | “I have family and friends who like to run, but they’re intimidated by people who run a lot. So, by putting them on a team in a virtual race, they’re not intimidated.”

[ read my story ]

So, those are their stories. If you want to start your own online race, we make it easy!

1. People can participate in a virtual race from virtually anywhere, at any time! Turns out asynchronous competition that’s not tied to any one physical location opens up a lot of possibilities! Or they can just use the race’s social functionality — likes and comments — for communicating with other people in your group!

2. There’s no minimum number of participants — your community can be as big or as small as you want!! Invite a colleague, a family member, or that high school teammate who now lives in Seattle!

3. The race ‘runs’ itself. Racery sends reminders, prompts and keep track of activity! You don’t need to hound your Seattle friend — we send a daily “log your miles” reminders by e-mail. Of course, if you do want to heckle as an extra motivational boost, we won’t stop you!

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You can organize a virtual race too!

Sound interesting? Getting started is easy…

a) It takes about 45 seconds to set up a free test virtual race for yourself and up to 5 colleagues.  We recommend starting with this.

b) You can challenge colleagues using one of our many prebuilt virtual races, which includes all our classic motivational features. (You can see a few examples below.)

c) You can setup your own custom virtual race route for a company. Or a custom route for a charity virtual race. Just add some addresses and see how easy it is!

d) Go here for more information about our new Virtual 5k platform. 

e) Or, if you’ve got corporate ambitions and a budget, you can get the Racery team’s advice and help building a unique and powerful virtual challenge. Just answer a few questions and we’ll get started brainstorming.

Here’s an update on Racery’s approach to social distancing virtual races!