We at Run The Edge have been spearheading the world of virtual running since 2011, but have never offered a virtual race. A race implies a sense of urgency, competition, and deadlines. We offer virtual challenges. A challenge is different from a race in that it challenges you without comparing your experience to others'. We want to give you a long-term goal that keeps you motivated and invites you to reach for deeper strength than you thought you had to achieve it.
None of our events demand more from our participants than our Amerithon Challenge. This is our challenge with the highest mileage, but we set no time limit on it. Amerithon is not about completing a certain distance in a certain amount of time. It's about seeing if you can hold yourself accountable to a goal you set for yourself!
That goal in Amerithon is 3,521 miles of running, walking, swimming, crawling, or whatever kind of exercise makes you move. We encourage you to make the challenge yours and really explore how far you can take yourself. Amerithon revolves around the idea that you are virtually exercising your way across the country: you begin at the Golden Gate Bridge and finish at the Washington Monument. On the way, you collect 36 landmark badges in your tracker when you "arrive" at significant places along the route! This helps break up the journey into smaller, but still sizable sections.
If you want more tangible proof of your progress, we provide an Amerithon map, passport, and stickers with the medal so that you can keep track of your mileage offline as well. The medal itself comprises six pieces total: a base plate, four magnetic sections that you lock into place as you complete your journey, and a finisher shoe! These non-digital components show you how far you've come and keep the challenge alive in real life, not just virtually.
So if you feel like you're missing the real-life races this year, think of challenging yourself in other ways. Ways that remove the leaderboards and comparison. Bigger ways that ask more of you. Challenge yourself for the long-term, and just to see if you can do it!
