A Virtual Reality

My final virtual race occurred on a hot, sticky morning in late July 2021.

Run By Myself? Yeah, Right.

March 13, 2020 definitely lived up to it's "Friday the 13th" status. After waiting over 30 minutes in a long line to pick up a racing packet, we were suddenly informed that the St. Paddy’s races scheduled for that next morning had been canceled due to covid-19. This became the first domino to fall. Within a few weeks, every race I'd signed up for had been either postponed or canceled.

Nor did I question those decisions. Global pandemics and spouses with health conditions dictated otherwise. Still, I really enjoyed races. If I wanted to continue doing them, there appeared to be only one option. Virtual races. Although I’d seen them offered before, I’d completely dismissed them. But since covid-19 didn't appear to be going away anytime soon, this seemed my only alternative.

A Virtual Season

After dipping my toes into the virtual waters with a couple "practice races," I took the plunge by signing up for six virtual races over a period of eighteen weeks.

My "virtual season" began on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend with the Dam to Des Moines 20K. In order to recreate the "feel" of an actual race, I religiously adhered to all my pre-race routines. I’d also decided on an 8 am time to start a course that would encompass the race's 12.4-mile distance. The crowd noises at the start of ELO’s “All Over the World” were supplemented by real crowd sounds from the Farmers Market one block from my unofficial starting line. Although it seemed odd to take off alone, my first mile split told me that my legs were treating this like an actual in-person race. Heading along the paved trails beside the Des Moines River and Gray’s Lake, I came across other runners with the 2020 Dam to DSM t-shirts, making this virtual race seem a tad closer to the real thing.

With miles of excellent bicycle trails, Gray's Lake proved the perfect location for virtual races.

When my stomach started cramping at mile three, I suddenly realized that, unlike in-person races, virtual ones don't have volunteers handing out water. Fortunately, salvation came in the form of a cooler full of small water bottles - no doubt from a local track club. Necessity trumping courtesy, I took a quick 30 second break to pour water from one of those bottles down my throat. Although feeling a bit guilty, the cramps subsided, allowing me to continue..

Moving into that final mile provided another new experience. Just as there was no starting line, I had no finish line either. I had to keep an eye on my Garmin once it told me I'd hit mile twelve so that I'd know to stop at 12.4 miles. As I'd intended in setting up the course, my race ended near a trail that would take me into downtown to where I’d parked. No cheers. No medals. No snacks. No one to talk with afterwards. What I did have, however, was a satisfaction of having ran at a faster pace than I'd expected.

I used this bridge over Gray's Lake as the final stretch for my virtual 10 K's.

I was back at Gray’s Lake three Saturdays later for a virtual 10K. Three Saturdays following that, it was a virtual half marathon. And so on for every three weeks until the Saturday before Christmas when I finished this “season” with a 10K typically ran in downtown Portland, Oregon. During that time, heat and humidity gave way to increasing cold and winds, with snow surrounding the paved trails for the final race.

The Virtual Experience

With those six races as well as a few others in early 2021 under my belt, I came to the following conclusions about virtual races.

• You're The Race Director. As I learned with my stomach cramps, virtual races do not have water stations. Or markers for turning around. Or finish lines. You need to plan for all of that prior to the actual race. One reason I chose Gray's Lake was that I knew the area well enough to accurately gauge distances as well as prepare courses that allowed me to stash my water at a useful intersection that I'd pass at least twice.

• The Start is Less Stressful. That there was no official start time eased a number of tensions. No worries about traffic. I could take as much time as I needed to stretch and warm up. Best of all, no lines whatsoever to the bathrooms or porta-potties!

• Fewer Distractions. Although also a downside, the lack of a crowd and other runners made it easier to focus on my pace and running.

• The Playlist Was Essential. A playlist of engaging songs is an absolute necessity to my racing. What I discovered with virtual racing is that absent the other distractions, that playlist took on an even more prominent role. Instead of a people cheering everyone on, I needed to carefully plan a specific song or two to provide that crucial boost at certain intervals of the race.

• I Could Maintain Race Pace in a Virtual Setting. Perhaps the most pleasant realization was that my actual times in virtual races were comparable to what I’d done prior to the pandemic. Actually, I had my fastest 5K time since resuming competitive running in a virtual race as well as my second fastest 10K time. Best of all, no one beat me at the finish line.

• Swag is Swag. Let’s be honest. Who doesn’t appreciate a cool running t-shirt or top? Nor does anyone mind adding a dazzling medal to their collection. Virtual races did not skimp on the swag. Even better, I received cool stuff from races in locations like Portland that I couldn’t have attended anyway.

• Results are Meaningless. Like the dutiful person that I am, upon returning home from a virtual race, I’d enter my times onto the race’s website. But the truth was that my results meant nothing. No one ran the same course or under the same conditions. While it may feel good to say that I won my age group in the "Sparkling Non-Alcoholic Cider Smashed Apple 10K", given the very nature of virtual racing, my actual competition was myself.

Final Thoughts

My enthusiasm for my first in person race in a year translated into starting out way too fast - which is detailed in my expression as I stagger to the finish line.

As it turned out, my first in person race for 2021 was the St. Paddy’s 5K - the same race that had been canceled the previous year. Even with everyone masked before racing and staggered starts, there clearly existed an excitement that I didn't realize how much I'd missed. It proved enough that while I had a few more virtual races left on my calendar, the bloom had fallen off the rose. My interest in those races waned with each passing week.

Looking back, I'm glad that I participated in those virtual races. While they clearly lacked the energy and excitement of an in-person event, I cannot deny that they provided a surprisingly satisfying substitute when the "real thing" wasn't available.

What about you? You can either answer in the comments below or the FB posts.