Saturday, September 20, 2014

Beat the Blerch Virtual Run

Today I participated in the Beat the Blerch Virtual Run. I signed up for the virtual run back in July. I am a fan of the Oatmeal comics and was excited that there was a run back in my home state of WA called Beat the Blerch. It was so popular the run sold out fast! Fast as in 20 minutes after registration opened.

I mean who wouldn't want to run in a race that had large quantities of birthday cake at every aid station, in addition to Nutella and magical grape beverage. They also post on their site that there may or may not be actual Blerchs in fat-suits chasing you throughout the race. Sounds like such a fun race, so when they offered the virtual run, I took the opportunity to participate in spirit. Plus from their site I saw that a percentage of the proceeds go to the Washington Trails Association and the National Wildlife Federation so that made it an even better reason to persuade me to do the virtual run.

I received my virtual race kit earlier this week and was happy with all the goodies. There were gummy bears, cupcake frosting flavored lip balm, a magnet, stickers, and of course a shirt, bib, and medal.
My favorites are the shirt and the little Blerch toy.
My kiddos like playing with this little guy.
I signed up to do the 10K virtual run and had an 11 mile training run scheduled for this morning. So my plan was to do the first 6.2 miles fast then take it a little easier the last 4.8 miles. It was a beautiful day for a run.
When 6.2 miles passed, I looked at my watch and it was at around 56 minutes 20 sec. Not a bad 10K! Knowing I still had 4.8 miles to go I pressed on. Turned out to be a decent 11 miles total.
Here's the medal.
Beat the Blerch Virtual medal
This was my first real virtual run. I'd say I like the idea of being able to run a race "virtually" and that you can do it anywhere, but of course a real race for me is better. There is nothing that can beat running across the finish line and having crowds cheering you on. Would I do a virtual run again, probably, if it were for a good cause, and if it were inexpensive.  

Have you done a virtual run?

8 comments:

  1. Great job! I'll be doing my virtual Beat the Blerch run tomorrow.

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  2. Thanks! Good luck on your run! :)

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  3. Congrats! That is nice they had a Virtual option for this race (a. people were unable to sign up or b. cannot make it out west). I can't wait to read the recaps that will pop up over the next week.

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  4. Michelle@Running with AttitudeSeptember 21, 2014 at 4:47 PM

    That's great that they offered a virtual option - and what a fun collection of stuff they sent you! I've done a couple of virtual runs - it's a nice way to support a charity.

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  5. Thanks Jenny! I'm looking forward to reading recaps from the real race too! :)

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  6. It is some pretty cool swag! :) Virtual runs are a definitely a great way to support a charity.

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  7. Welcome to #dishthefit! You will love the posts and support!

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