Virtual Races

Virtual races...you can jump out of bed, go to the treadmill or whatever trail you want to, log your mileage and then receive a medal in the mail a week or two later. Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about these. I've done two virtual races myself, one because I just started running and didn't know any better and the second because it was through Brazen Racing and as much as I wanted to I couldn't make it to California for that race. The second virtual race was fun; it was called the Bear Creek trail run and since there's a TON of places named Bear Creek around me I decided to go do a half marathon while on a mission to take pictures of everything Bear Creek. That was fun, probably definitely not as much fun as actually being in NorCal, but fun nonetheless, and it gave me something to accomplish out in the crazy Summer heat of 2017.

The medal was AWEOSME (source)

This year and next year I will be traveling a bit for some of my runs, and I very much prefer being in the actual crowd of runners and experiencing what they experience. To me that's a big part of running a race. I definitely see the value in virtual races. If you live far out and can't get to a race, or if you need that push to reach a goal it works very well! From now on, with exception to maybe a Brazen race, there will be no more virtual races for me. What do you guys think about virtual runs? Do you love them? Hate them?