Sunday, February 7, 2016

Virtual Nuun Year Dash 10K

I have participated in a lot of races but one type I have never tried is a virtual race. That changed on Saturday when I completed the first ever Nuun Year Dash! 

I signed up for the run back in December so I almost forgot about it until I was notified that race packets were in the mail. I was so excited to see what participants would get! Isn't race swag the BEST?! Nuun was pretty awesome about sending an email to track the package so I stalked the mail the day it planned to arrive. 

The packet arrived about a week before the event and they sent out a shirt, bib (with pins), Nuun tattoos, a race medal, and samples of their hydration tablets.

If you've never run a virtual race, here is a quick breakdown of how this particular one worked. Nuun sent out an email to runners to make a profile in order to submit their times and race photos for chances to win prizes. Then runners could choose to run either a 5K or 10k from February 5-8. The best part is running any time you wanted at any place. Indoors or outdoors. Solo or with friends! 



After hydrating with some Nuun it was time to head out for the run! This virtual race was so convenient for me because I worked all weekend so I squeezed 6.2 miles in after work on Saturday evening. Brad decided to run with me so we ran along a trail near the Ohio River close to our apartment. I was pretty exhausted from work and with a marathon in 8 days we decided to run nice and easy. The temperature was dropping as we ran but overall it was a perfect day and the views of Pittsburgh as the sun was setting were more than perfect. Yes I wore my race bib :) 

While running I started thinking about the pros/cons of a virtual race and thought I'd share:

PROS
-no early race starts
-flexibility to run when/where you want
-the race won't be cancelled due to bad weather 
-your choice to run indoors or outdoors
-receiving happy mail with your race packet
-freedom to design your race route
-price is comparable to small local races, sometimes even cheaper
-social media connection with other runners
-choice to run solo or with friends

CONS (not too many)
-no spectators cheering you on
-the risk of your race packet getting lost in the mail
-no hydration stations (can you tell I dislike carrying fluids when I run? I promise, I'm working on that)
Overall I really enjoyed my first virtual race. Much love to Nuun and FitFam for a great virtual event! Rumor is another one will happen this year so I'll be sure to share it with you when I know! :) 


Congrats to everyone who ran and please share your thoughts on virtual races and any of your favorites!


Happy running, friends!







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