How It Works
THE BASICS- You can run, jog, or walk on the road, on the trail, on the treadmill, at the gym or on the track. If you are cycling the challenge you can do your miles outside on your non-electric two-wheeled bicycle, or inside on your stationary bike or Peleton. For the purpose of this competition a elliptical machine counts as a bike. You get to complete your own race, at your own pace, and time it yourself.
One of the beauties of a virtual race is there are limited rules. Want to bring your dog? Sure. Want to push a stroller? OK. Want to run some and walk some? Yup. You can even add distances multiple times per day so do some in the morning and more in the evening. You make the call!
Each participant will get access to a printable race bib that you can wear it while you compete or not, it's up to you. Your race SWAG will not arrive until near the end of the challenge in late August. These will be mailed to the address you provided when you registered. Once you complete your miles, you can print your finisher certificate from the Results webpage.
BUY LOCAL- All registrants will be eligible for raffles and contests with prizes from local Maryland businesses. Proceeds from the event will be used to purchase gift certificates and other "stuff" from local companies across the state which will be shared with our participants in hopes of stimulating the local economy and helping Maryland small businesses get back on their feet.
YOUR MILES- The Race Across Maryland is a personal quest-- you against the miles ahead of you. You are on the honor system to track and record your distance. Only miles accumulated from direct physical activity intended for the challenge should count. In other words, steps you earn in your daily activities should not count. Distance traveled via car to get to the trail you are walking on should not count. We all know some trackers tend to encompass additional motions throughout your day so use your best judgement when logging your Challenge miles.
REGISTER- Once you are ready SIGN UP for the distance and mode of transportation you plan to use for The Challenge. You can start submitting miles starting on June 15. Any miles accumulated prior to this date should not count. If you join after June 15, you can submit any miles accumulated only after you join.
DONATIONS- We encourage you to make a donation to the Maryland Food Bank and seek additional donations from friend and family on behalf of your efforts. What better way to keep you motivated to run each day then knowing that you are doing good not only for you body and metal health but also growing need of those in your community facing hunger. You can learn more about the charity beneficiaries HERE.
RESULTS- Participants will have access to a Results webpage to record their distances and times (optional) each day. Here you will be able to view a leaderboard and see where you stand against others in the challenge. For instructions on logging your miles, visit HERE. Those who are on a SOCIAL TEAM will be able to search other members of their team from this Results site as a means to compare your efforts.
THE BLOG- We encourage you to follow CSE staffer and avid cyclist Mark Clem who will be blogging about landmarks and hotspots along the route and provide some color commentary about The Race Across Maryland over the course of the 60 days. In general he will follow the 5 miles per day and identify things you may see at those mile marks if you were actually taking the journey from West to East. By car, the mileage from West to East is probably closer to 300 miles, but we didn't want to push our luck and make you do those extra 50 miles. Plus, if we are going into this virtual world, who wouldn't want to fly like a bird! FIND IT HERE.
