Strava, the social network for athletes, has announced a new update that will give athletes credit for more – notably indoor sessions. The latest development sees creators of partner challenges now having the option to allow virtual rides or runs of all types to count toward their challenges on Strava.
Indoor virtual activities are categorised as those that include GPS, distance, elevation and time data from a simulated route. Strava’s own challenges will continue to count only outdoor run and ride activities towards challenge goals.
Alongside the announcement from Strava, Zwift, the fitness company born from gaming, confirmed that virtual cycling and running activities undertaken on Zwift can now count toward select partner challenges on Strava. This January the Zwift community reportedly logged an average of 1 million miles (1.61 million km) per day, with major events attracting up to 3,500 participants.
“Our community loves Strava,” said Eric Min, Zwift co-founder and CEO. “75% have connected their Zwift membership to Strava, accounting for 250,000 Zwift activities currently uploaded each week. These people are also passionate about riding and running outdoors, so it’s both fantastic and fitting that their Zwifting can count towards partner challenges on Strava.”
“We know many of our athletes are working out indoors as well outdoors, and Zwift has helped make indoor workouts more fun and motivating for many of our members,” noted David Lorsch, Strava’s VP of Strategy and Business Development. “Enabling virtual riding and running activities to count towards some of our challenges will help even more athletes benefit from the motivation our challenges and Zwift provide. We’re excited to have this additional team of riders and runners participate in challenges on Strava.”
Since its launch 500,000 cyclists have ridden on Zwift; and the California based start-up is expected to build on its success in cycling with an imminent push behind Zwift Run, until now an Alpha product available to paying subscribers of its cycling product.
Performance cycling apparel company, Le Col, is the first challenge owner to activate a Strava partner Challenge in Zwift. The British brand is hosting its ’10 Hour Season Starter Challenge’. Those signed up to the challenge and complete 10 hours of riding, either outdoors or on Zwift, between 1-14 February will earn a £50 Le Col reward.
Zwift is offered as non-contract, monthly subscription priced at US$14.99 / £12.99 per month. A seven-day free unlimited trial is automatically offered to all new account holders. Zwift is currently available on PC, Mac, iOS and Apple TV on the App Store along with Zwift’s companion app, the ‘Zwift Mobile Link’, which can be used in tandem with Zwift as a game controller, data display, event feed, and social integration tool.
Strava is the social network for athletes. Its mobile apps and website connect millions of active people every day:
- 16 activities uploaded every second, 11 million every week
- 300+ compatible mobile phones and GPS devices
- 140+ employees, most in San Francisco with more in Hanover, Bristol and now Denver
- 1,100+ professional athletes are on Strava
- 1 million athletes join every 40 days
- 2.3 billion kudos given between athletes last year
- £5.99 a month for Strava Premium, or £44.99 a year
- 130+ cities helping to make commuting better with Strava Metro
