When Sophie River recommitted to fitness in late middle age, she sometimes struggled to walk an entire 5k race.  

And, living in a remote location in North Central WA State, River struggled to find walker-friendly 5k races she could enter. It was “at least 3 hours to drive to most large cities (Seattle, Spokane, etc) that have such activities!” River said in an email to Racery. 

In 2016, River joined the Fanthropy Run Club, a 6,200-person Facebook group that uses Racery’s virtual race platform to power many of its virtual challenges. She loved FRC’s “HUGE group of supportive people, all around the world.”  

Racery’s virtual race platform, which allows participants to log exercises performed at their own pace and location, “gave me a way to measure my baseline abilities, and then track progress,” says River. Rather than completing an event in one go, she could break up 3.1-mile and 6.2-mile goals into as many half-mile portions as needed.

“My first 26.2-mile Racery award was for covering that distance over four days. I found it motivational and FUN to basically be racing myself, trying to improve from where I started. Which I did! 26.2 miles in three days, then two, and finally in one!” 

“Your site has CHANGED MY LIFE!” says River. 

After her first virtual race in 2016, River has participated in dozens of Racery races and challenges. In addition to allowing racers to compete in leaderboards and see their avatars advance on virtual routes, Racery tracks how quickly participants complete classic distances, for example, 26.2 or 100 miles, and gives successive awards whenever people complete each distance in a shorter elapsed time. 

“My first 26.2-mile Racery award was for covering that distance over four days. I found it motivational and FUN to basically be racing myself, trying to improve from where I started. Which I did! 26.2 miles in three days, then two, and finally in one!”

“When I started this fitness journey in Feb 2016, it took me 19 days to accomplish 100 miles, 75 days to go 500 miles, and 4 days to achieve 26.2, says River. “Bit by bit I brought those down!”

“Even more thrilling was my 100-mile markers!  The first one I ever earned took me 19 days. I was able to cover my next 100 miles in 12 days! Those ‘stickers’ popping up in my Racery logs are so delightful. They freed me completely from having to keep track of my own math and statistics. ‘You just covered 100 miles in 11 days! Keep improving!’  Then the 500-mile and 1000-mile awards show up! Am I really going that far?! ”

River has turned the awards into refrigerator magnets, a tangible representation of her progress.  

Milestone awards aren’t the only Racery feature River enjoys. 

• “You can choose events that only count run/walk miles and require proof screenshots. Or you can pick an event that allows logging of bicycling, elliptical machines, even time spent doing yoga!”
• “You can collect bibs and medals, if you like; you can get involved in fundraising, or not! It is wide open with possibilities and customization.” 
• “There’s none of the expense of hassle of traveling to an ‘IRL race,’ and no threat of losing your financial investment if unpredictable health fails to observe pre-scheduled events!”
• River also likes Racery’s support team, which is “invariably quick, professional, and responsive!”

Want to experience Racery’s virtual race platform? It’s easy to create a virtual race for your charity or launch an inclusive exercise challenge for your company.