My First Virtual Event

I’ve always wanted to participate in the Nike Women’s Marathon. This event is held in October in San Francisco. The Marathon is the largest women’s running event in the world to benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Selection is done by a draw. I did not get selected.

Suddenly I received an email with information on registering for Nike Women’s Half Marathon. The email informed me that no matter where I race on October 19th 2008, I would receive a finishers t-shirt and an exclusive keychain designed by Tiffany & Co. The only thing I had to do was lace up my shoes; grab my Nike+Ipod Sport Kit or my Nike+ SportBand and run to record my distance to be part of it. After finishing, I had to upload to Nike to register the completion.

By the way I love the Nike+Ipod Sport Kit. It records my pace, how many miles and how many calories I burned. When I’m done with my workout, a famous athletes voice lets you know if you set a new pace, as well as run the longest distance. You can also see the Awards you’ve received, such as the Virtual event I completed. When you send the information to Nike via the internet, your account comes up with all the history of your runs, and fastest mile.

Well on October 19, 2008, I finished my First Virtual Half-Marathon. I ran in Columbus, Ohio, where I participated in the Nationwide Better Health Columbus Marathon. I have (2) Finishers T-Shirts, (1) medal and (1) keychain which I made into a medal. This makes for a very interesting conversation piece, when people wonder how I ran in San Francisco, CA, and Columbus, Ohio the same day.

I’ve entered the draw again this year, and I’m hoping to get selected to be physically in San Francisco running. After all it’s been a few years since I wanted to cross the finish line and have a handsome man in a Tuxedo place the Tiffany Medal around my neck. But, if I don’t get selected, I’ll have to select a new state to do the Virtual event.

On a scale of 1-30. This gets a 30. I highly recommend Virtual Events.