A Runner's Highs - My First Virtual Race - The Maverick Cham 100KM Virtual event

It’s great to have some of our Mavericks writing content for us about our events, as it’s always fab to hear people’s views and experiences. Darren has written about his 100KM which he completed as part of the Maverick Chamonix 100KM Virtual event.

The concept of hosting a virtual sporting event is nothing new and has certainly been the only way for events organisers to remain present and for their followers to be engaged this year. For the most part I’ve opted to defer my entries to next year for two simple reasons. One, I actually want to attend, attempt and be a part of the atmosphere and two, the events organisers have likely invested the booking income so requesting a refund may put pressure on their survival. Personally, I’d like them to be around next year and for the future so I can apply to more of their challenges.

Recently, I found myself signing up for the Maverick virtual 100KM race offering me the chance, for a nominal fee, to virtually run around Chamonix and upon completion receive a medal and goodies. Seemed like a good idea. Until now the only challenge I had set myself was to run the Stour Valley Way so what better way to re-focus my effort?

Pre-race communications were clear, concise and I felt like I was actually about to embark and participate in the real thing. I paired up my Garmin so the distance tracking and logging were automatic, all I needed now was to get started. The 100KM would need to be completed within 8 days so when the first day arrived off I set to get the first 15 or so kilometres under my belt. Once that was done I thought to myself this should be pretty straightforward. Overnight the logged distance triggered emails from the organisers rewarding me of my progress and where I happened to be in the journey around Chamonix. Digesting these emails over breakfast I was ready for a second bash. And so this continued for day three too. But now I’d hit a problem, I wasn’t motivated to get out when I awoke the following day. Running around the same area again? Just to clock up KMs? Grumbling too that I can’t go until after work as I don’t have enough time before… Where the heck had my mojo gone? I did the fourth day knowing I had a rest day for the fifth and used this to take stock of what was happening.

Of course, it was a simple explanation. I’d taken the fun out of the days by not planning and just assumed blasting around my frequently used routes would be sufficient. For days six and seven I decided to drive a few miles from home to the fringe of where I typically reach on most local runs. From there I headed into the countryside and explored new tracks and it was great. Great to be out, great to be somewhere new and still notching up the KMs I needed too. So much so that the last day I churned out the final 24km I needed to close out with 101KM.

A days rest was all I needed to get some clarity to realise that even virtual events need planning, that in essence, I was the Race Director and the only person responsible for the success. Oddly, this was a steep learning curve and for me, a lesson well learned.

My next virtual event is a marathon in October and taking on board my experience from the past week I’ve already planned the route.