UK event agency Race Pursuit has launched the brand new 700k Lightning Ultimate Challenge in partnership with njuko, GivenGain and My Virtual Mission.
Positioned as ‘the perfect long term fitness goal’, the challenge is to run, cycle, walk or swim 700k over the period of a year from now, 700k or 435 miles is the equivalent length of the longest ever recorded lightning bolt, recorded on October 31, 2018 over southern Brazil. (That’s large enough to cover the distance from Toronto to Chicago, from Vancouver to Calgary or from Winnipeg to Saskatoon.)
The challenge amounts to less than 2k a day in 365 days. Competitors will earn a technical running t-shirt, race number, personalised certificate and a medal for taking part.
Participants can use a live tracking app that integrates activities with Runkeeper, Strava, Fitbit, and Map My Run – or they track via manual logs. There is also a choice of two live routes that have been mapped out to keep individuals motivated and give some virtual scenery to check in on after each micro distance that is completed towards the 700k goal.
When entering, participants can choose from running either a UK virtual scenic route, starting at the Olympic Park and ending in the Brecon Beacons in Wales – or the actual route of the lightning bolt across southern Brazil.
Matt Trevett, who launched Race Pursuit in 2016 said “Virtuals are popping up everywhere now which is great to get people active and earning awesome medals. But we wanted to go one step further, beyond lockdown and virus talk and build ours towards the future.
“Our challenge invites athletes to set a realistic long term fitness goal to change their lives whilst also using our connections to help small event organising businesses around the UK attract new runners. We want to keep people moving well after ‘normality returns.”
The purpose of the new challenge is to not only undertake ‘virtual runs or cycles’ but to encourage competitors to enter real sporting events as they start to return to the UK & Ireland next year. After signing up, athletes will be directed to the latest events to enter in 2021. All real events or training activities will count towards the 700k overall goal.
London Lightning Run sponsored by Toyota & Lexus Woodford usually takes place every year at the Olympic Park in London. All 700k challenge participants will also receive discounts to the 2021 race, with further details to be announced in the coming weeks.
“We are delighted to be working alongside Race Pursuit and njuko for this incredible new event, helping to raise funds for a combination of UK charities,” said Robyn Andrews, Fundraising Campaign Manager at GivenGain.
“Virtual events are an increasingly important part of the fundraising landscape. More and more event organisers are using innovative solutions to engage participants and make a positive social impact and we are here to help them make use of our technology.”
www.njuko.net/700klightning
www.lightningrun.london
