Hampton Roads runners unite online
These days, almost everything can exist online. With the coronavirus pandemic halting everything in its tracks, now people are even running races online.
After Gov. Ralph Northam prohibited all non-essential gatherings, J&A Racing, a Virginia Beach-based race management company, made the choice to pivot to virtual racing instead of canceling or postponing events.
“With all the events being canceled locally, it felt like the right time to kind of adopt (virtual racing) as part of our business model and to really just bring something locally here to our community to fill the void,” J&A Racing director of communications Kristy Maute said.
Among the benefits to virtual racing, according to Maute, is the ability to potentially bring together
ness to a community facing uncertain times.
“It motivates people to get out and run and have fun,” Maute said. “They’re kind of connecting with each other on Instagram and Facebook using hashtags and tagging people. We even have a group that are … going to run their 5Ks and get on Zoom together and kind of do a celebratory toast. … I think we’re all locked inside and going a little stir-crazy, so I know (virtual racing) helps with the celebration and the motivation.”
Virtual racing participants run on their own in their neighborhood, on a treadmill or anywhere else they can find. Then they report their own results online in what Maute calls a “trust policy.”
“Most people are doing this just for fun. Nobody wins anything,” Maute said. “We really have found that people who take the time to upload their results want an accurate record for it.”
The company plans to host a monthly virtual 5K until at least August. In May, its Mother’s Day 5K will benefit First Responders Children’s Foundation, which helps support first responders’ families that are experiencing hardship due to the pandemic.
Other local races are also moving online.
The seventh annual MSP Design Group Big Blue 5K — which supports the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation and funds student-athlete scholarships — was expected to feature more than 2,500 participants this Saturday. Instead, runners have been encouraged to run virtually from their home.
Ricky Rahne, ODU’s new head football coach, has clocked his own 5K, and J&A Racing said in a release this week its foundation will donate an additional dollar to the ODAF for every runner who beats Rahne’s undisclosed time. Some of Rahne’s fellow ODU coaches also have joined in.
The Virginia Beach Justice Initiative’s fifth annual Let Justice Roll 5K will be held virtually, benefiting local trafficking survivors. The Tidewater Striders recently held a virtual 5K where donations were used to buy food from local businesses to give to front-line health-care workers. And Road Rage Events, a company out of Virginia Beach, has also moved to virtual racing for several events.
Maute has been pleased by how the local running community is embracing virtual racing, especially when it’s for a good cause.
“It’s been really good,” she said. “We were really blown away by the amount of people who have registered for (the Mother’s Day event) and are still registering. … People are doing something a little more important than just running, they’re also making an impact as well.”