Strava has partnered with New York Road Runners, the largest running organization in the country, to bring you Virtual Races, a series of challenges allowing you to participate in NYRR races from anywhere in the world.
What is a Virtual Race
A virtual race is a race event that can be completed at your convenience. Run the required distance at any point during the given time window at a location of your choosing. A Virtual Race works similarly to Strava Challenges, with a few changes. Joining from the Strava Challenge page, you'll be prompted to become an NYRR member, sync your Strava account, register for races, and upload your attempts to Strava. Instead of showing up to the actual event on race day, you'll be given a window to complete the given distance on your own terms from any outdoor location. More detail on virtual racing can be found here.
How to Join
- Log into your NYRR account or create an NYRR account here.
- Register for the race. You'll find eligible races in the Races and Registration section of your My NYRR account.
- During registration, you'll be prompted to sync your Strava account to NYRR. Please note that registration for the race can only be completed once your My NYRR account has been linked to your Strava account.
- Once you connect your account, you will be redirected to the NYRR site, where you will need to add the race back to your cart.
- When you're done adding races to your cart, you can check out.
- After registration, a race receipt email and confirmation details email will be sent to you. Please read through those for more important information on the race.
- Once you complete the registration on NYRR, you will be automatically joined to the Strava Virtual Race page, where you can track your own progress and engage with the larger community.
- If you're new to Strava, please check out how to record an activity. This would also be a good time to familiarize yourself with the Strava app, or if you already have a dedicated GPS device, you can sync that account to Strava. Find out how to upload to Strava from your device.
FAQ
Rules and requirements
- Please ensure your activity visibility control is set to "Everyone". You can learn more about managing your activity's privacy controls here.
- Following the close of the race window, you will have three days to upload your results.
- Run, handcycle, and wheelchair activities will be counted towards the race.
- Please be sure to check the challenge rules for additional information regarding parameters for challenge completion.
What is the cost to join?
- Entry fees will vary per race, so please be sure to check out the Races and Registration section of your NYRR account for details.
- New York Road Runners is a non-profit organization, and the proceeds are used to support their free youth and community programs offered throughout the five boroughs of New York City.
Where on Strava can I find out if my activity counted toward the race?
Once your activity has been uploaded, and if it qualifies for the race, a trophy will be added to the Trophy Case on your profile. You will also see a completed status on the challenge page. To find the Strava Virtual Race page on the mobile app, navigate to Groups > Challenges. On the web, please use the Challenges tab.
Helpful tips
- Already have a dedicated GPS device? Find out how to upload to Strava from yours.
- Set up your device for success:
- Record a test activity and get familiar with the recording and upload process (recording guides for iOS and Android).
- Give your phone (or other GPS devices) time to acquire a solid GPS connection.
- Close other apps before using Strava.
- To ensure you meet the Challenge goal, we recommend you run a small amount over the required distance (about .5km / .3mi). GPS isn't perfect, so this will help accommodate data inaccuracies.
- Have trouble uploading? Here are some helpful tips to help troubleshoot for iOS and Android.
- Make sure your activity visibility control is set to "Everyone". You can learn more about managing your activity's privacy controls here.
- Make sure to have both your Strava and NYRR accounts up to date with a valid email address so you can receive important information regarding race updates.
Who can I reach out to for questions?
- For questions about registration, payment results tracking, or the virtual race series on NYRR, please reach out to help@nyrr.org
- For questions regarding recording/uploading with the Strava app, syncing 3rd party devices to your account, tagging your activity, best effort time, the Strava Leaderboard, and other Strava-related questions, please proceed with submitting a Strava support ticket
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