Signing up for a race is a really good way to motivate yourself to train for running. Unfortunately, with the pandemic, most races are canceled throughout the United States. This can be a huge bummer, and people will often stop training when they don’t feel like they have something to train for. However, there are many races still happening virtually, which is super exciting! I have friends who have participated in a virtual 5K, a half marathon, and other cool objectives.
There is a great website where you can sign up to run a virtual race: https://www.virtualrunevents.com/. These races do cost money, but the money is donated to charity, which is awesome. They even have some COVID-19 relief races. There is the 2020 “Social Distancing 6K - We’re All in This Together, but 6 Feet Apart” as well as the “Great Toilet Paper Chase of 2020” (which can be a 5K, 10K, half, or full marathon)! Check them out and challenge your friends to join you!
Another site you can check out is https://www.raceplace.com/. Here, you can look up your location and see what races are happening around you. If you don’t want to pay for a race, you can still participate virtually on the day of the race to be part of the running community! There are a lot of really fun options out there if you take the time to look for one and start training.
Having something to train for during this time is really important to keep up motivation and keep you healthy, and signing up for a race is one way to accomplish that. If you want, you can even create your own race with a group of friends. You can come up with a fun training plan and then run starting at the same time. If you do, take a photo and be sure to tag @aswwuoutdoors on Instagram! We would love to see how you’re getting after it during quarantine!