While we are currently not able to meet in person, we need to look for alternative ways to come together as a club. With the race calendar suddenly empty many of us are also looking for new goals to keep up our motivation to go out and run. We are at a time in the year where many people will be in peak fitness due to training schedules that have been interrupted and we would like to give you something to make the most of that.
Virtual Race League
We plan to put together a ladder league where we can have some friendly competition as we are forced to train on our own. Participating runners will be grouped into a ladder which will then be split into smaller divisions. Runners will be seeded on the ladder based on their parkrun PB, those with faster times will start further down the ladder. By completing weekly challenges, you will get points that will let you move up and down the ladder.
The virtual races will come in the form of weekly training challenges. Everyone will have the chance to complete some or all of these challenges to earn points. At the end of the week, the people with the most points will be moved up the ladder and others will drop down in a series of promotions and relegations. The challenges will cover a range of training aspects, not just focusing on speed. Each week there will be something different perhaps covering steady pacing, distance or speed.
The challenges will all be designed to be completed alone so that everyone can maintain the required social distancing. They should all be completed with respect for the latest guidance from the government. Depending on the restrictions placed on us, the training challenges may need to be suspended or adapted. The virtual race league is just for fun, your health and safety always takes priority. If you are uncomfortable with the format of any of the challenges, please let us know.
Starting the league
If you are interested in taking part, please sign up here!
We are going to start off with a weekend challenge. All you need to do is go out and run or walk 5k on either Saturday or Sunday (21st/22nd March). Although parkrun has been cancelled, this will still encourage everyone to get out for a bit of fresh air and much needed time to clear your heads. We will publish the results with rankings for overall pace as well as comparing your result to your 5k PB. Please do not run on parkrun courses at 9am on Saturday. We have been asked not to use these areas. If you do your 5k there at this time, you will be disqualified from the virtual league.
Please record your results on your favourite run tracking app. If using Strava, we will look to collect your details directly. If using any other platform, please submit results to website@26point2.co.uk.
We will be looking to establish a group where we can discuss the training challenges via WhatsApp or Facebook. We will have weekly broadcast sessions where the next week of training challenges will be issued and we can have a bit of interaction.
Wishing you all the best at this difficult time.