Sunday I completed the virtual AEP Ohio Columbus 10K!

I had planned to skip this year’s race because I was burned out on virtual races (more below). Then Columbus Running Company announced a four-year medal series starting this year. Each of the medals from 2020 to 2023 have magnets and they connect to form the State of Ohio. I’m a geek for cool medals, so I had to do this race.

From the start this race was different from other virtual races. Because much of the promotion for the event encouraged participants to do the race between Saturday, September 12 through September 20, it felt as if we had an actual race date.

I received my race swag in the mail and the packaging was amazing! A cardboard band around the box said 2020 Finisher. The contents were arranged like a gift with the race bib laying on top of everything. Included was a long-sleeved shirt, the medal, a pair of Steigen socks, hand sanitizer, bandages, a dumbbell-shaped stress ball (OrangeTheory Fitness), and coupons. I was truly surprised at how nice the presentation was. Someone put a lot of thought into this.

CRC shared a course option and a playlist that could be downloaded. I opted to walk in Sharon Woods, one of my favorite parks, and I’m a big fan of audio books when walking alone. (Carl Hiaasen, on Sunday.)

When I got to the 0 mile marker on the park trail, I started the RaceJoy app to record my “official” start time and I was off. Through my headphones I heard RaceJoy announce that I started the race and the app cheered for me. In fact, after each mile, the app told me how far I’d gone, my pace and projected finish time. About 20 seconds later, I heard a “woo hoo.” I know it is hokey, but it made me smile every single time. (There are more cheering options I missed when I set up the app.)

When I hit 6.2 miles RaceJoy announced that I finished in 1:28:34 and cheered again.

When I got home I posted my results on Instagram and Facebook and discovered that CRC and the race staff posted videos encouraging participants. (It looks like a video a day.) Another touch that made me smile and made me glad I did the race.

This was the best virtual race I have completed so far this season. (To be fair, I deferred all of my other races to 2021.) CRC made it fun from start to finish.

Other Virtual Races During the Pandemic

Though I’ve seen ads for virtual races before, because of the pandemic and the canceling of in-person races there were suddenly tons of virtual races advertised. At first I did not understand the appeal.

Then I saw something I couldn’t pass up – The Bigfoot Social Distancing Champion 5K. The logo of Bigfoot racing while carrying a roll of toilet paper is awesome! I wanted the shirt, but I really wanted the medal to commemorate a race during a difficult time.

I soon signed up for a few more: the free Zoom into Spring series, Conquer COVID-19, the Ohio Strong series, a Centurion Challenge, and a Choose Your Own Adventure race I’m calling the Buckeye Striders Quarantine 5K.

After a few weeks of speed workouts I finished the Bigfoot 5K in 39:47, which made me happy.

I wasn’t necessarily “hooked,” but it was fun. It was nice to have a reason to push myself. Afterward, I was excited about my finish time and I bragged to my friends.

And now I can add that I did my first “virtual because it was cancelled” race with CRC’s 10K. It didn’t feel like “let’s do this as cheap as possible to make a buck” like some of the virtual-only races did. As stated earlier, it was different from start to finish.

12 Things Learned from Virtual Racing

• There are very creative people coming up with virtual race ideas.
• Races that were intended to be in-person and were forced to be held virtually are a better experience than virtual-only races.
• Racing alone is OK. I actually “raced” the races and it felt good.
• It’s fun to report my results to see how I rank compared to other finishers.
• Knowing that I would report my results, and they would be public, did inspire me to do my best.
• The medal isn’t everything, but if it is unique I’m more likely to enter.
• I still will not wear the race shirt until I have finished the race.
• Knowing that my friends are doing the same races made them more fun even if we weren’t together.
• If you get the wrong shirt size, it is nearly impossible to exchange. I have two shirts I can’t wear because they are huge!
• With virtual-only races, lightweight wooden finisher medals are common. Much less postage and I’m sure they are quicker to manufacture.
• I don’t need to pay $40 just to get another shirt and medal for walking alone unless it is for a good cause.
• After CRC’s well-planned 10K, in order for me to do a virtual-only race, they need to up their game.
  

Final Thoughts on Virtual Races

The social aspect is a large part of what makes races fun. I enjoy being at the start line with friends and encouraging each other through the race. I get energy from picking a “rabbit” or two and passing them (especially runners). After the race, it is fun to sit with friends, eating a banana with our medals around our necks, recapping how we did. Even training for races is more fun with a group.

Some of these virtual events felt very cheap. The cotton shirt and lightweight medal arrived in a simple brown envelope. That’s fine, but for the same registration fee, CRC went all out for the Columbus 10K. Everything was top of the line.

And from my recent WALK Magazine Podcast interview with David Babner, I know M3S Sports is doing the same thing with their races that were turned virtual.

I really appreciate the creativity of people – many of the COVID-related races were great ideas. But what is even more impressive are the race companies that had their entire year of in-person races planned out and suddenly had to pivot to virtual races. These companies still found ways to provide a good race experience. These are the companies I will remember when in-person racing returns.

Edited on 9/17/2020 to fix typographic error and add links.

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