Have phone, will travel: Paradise Running Club launches virtual race across Newfoundland

The running season in Newfoundland and Labrador has taken a hit because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but a new online challenge hopes runners will explore the province in a different way.

The Paradise Running Club recently launched the Virtual 7o9(00K) challenge, allowing runners to travel the province virtually in the style of a road race.

"You start at Port aux Basques ferry terminal and you trek across the island, and you end at the Terry Fox statue here in St. John's," Paradise Running Club president Lori Dalton told CBC Radio'sWeekend AM.

Using an app called My Virtual Mission, runners who sign up for the challenge can log their runs daily, and add to their challenge distance over time. The challenge began May 11, with the goal of running 904.5 kilometres before the challenge ends Sept. 13. In order to be on pace to complete the challenge, runners need to log just over seven kilometres a day.

The challenge can be completed solo, or with a team of up to four people. After you log your run, you can use the app to track your progress and view where you be in the province based on how far you've run.

"You can actually see a street view of where you are in the province," Dalton said. "Using Google Earth or Google Maps, you can zoom in and actually see where you are.

"It's just trying to keep everybody active, and what a fun way to see the island if you can't travel very far this year."

Dalton said the idea came from a similar race being run in Tennessee while trying to find ways to keep people motivatedto run during to the pandemic. Major highlights of Newfoundland and Labrador's running season like the Tely 10 and the Huffin' Puffin Marathon have been cancelled for this year.

After posting about the idea of a virtual road race, she said, the interest has been more than the running club could ever imagine. About 1,200 people have signed up so far, including runners across Canada and the United States.

"It's been mind-blowing for me," she said. "We have people right across the country. Every province is represented, even some of the territories."

She hopes the challenge can help racers keep connected, as the social aspect of the sport is lost during times of isolation.

"Nothing can take the place of getting out running with a friend or a group of people. I'm struggling with that myself," Dalton said. "But the way that we're trying to stay connected with this virtual mission is we have a private Facebook group for any of the participants.

"People are posting their routes in there, some fun stuff they're doing trying to stay social in a different way and support themselves that way."

Dalton said participants who pay thechallenge's $50 entry fee will receive a T-shirt the fee is $35 without a T-shirtand there are medals for those who complete the journey. There will also be prize draws over the course of the event.

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