Alright, so as I’ve often written, I usually don’t make a potion to endorsing specific products or brands. My blog isn’t the place for that sort of thing but on occasion, I’ll get into something or use something that I just can’t help writing about and spreading the news, as it were. One of these cases is The Conqueror Challenges.
I had been seeing these marathon medals advertised on Facebook for months, and it looked pretty solid, so I decided to check it out. I even had people on my pretty limited friends’ list who liked the pages and supported the Conqueror Challenges, so I thought, “Why not try it?” It’s basically the way of the new world, right? Almost ANYTHING can be done virtually, now.
I’m always the first one to be a bit leery about the prospect of trying anything online. The internet is a sketchy place at the best of times, with peoples’ identities and the authenticity of whatever one might be dealing with while taking advantage of things online. With my usual amount of caution and doubt, I dipped my toes in and I have to say that I’m reasonably pleased with the results. Here’s what I found…
First, you start by installing The Conqueror Challenges app. The app is free to download and honestly doesn’t ask for much of anything in terms of information. Then, you pick your challenge. This is where it gets interesting, because you can choose from challenges as short as 30-some kilometres, all the way up to 4,000 kilometres. You can do anything that calculates distance, cycling, running, walking and even swimming.
The only thing I don’t like, is picking out a challenge brings you to The Conqueror Challenges website for sign-up. Then you purchase an entry fee (which is typical for any marathon one participates in, I’ll point out) and they email you a “sign up code.” Once you get the code and enter it into the app, you’re good to go. You can set your own timeframe and arrange for reminders and alarms to keep you on track. I started a 42-kilometre one and set it for 8 weeks because I had no clue how long it would tale me, or how available I would be to work on it. I finished it in two days.
Next, I signed up for one called the “English Channel,” and finished it in one day. Then I slowed my roll and decided to wait and see if they’d actually ship me the medals I earned. It took a while, and good ol’ COVID-19 got its sticky fingers in the pot and caused delays, but I got the medal from my second challenge first, of all things. It’s solid metal, got a nice heft to it and they look pretty sharp. See the photo below…
I got my “Marathon to Athens” medal the following week and my “Mount Everest” medal is currently on route. These marathons were 42, 34 and 62 kilometres, respectively. I’ve been motivated enough that I signed up for a 500-kilometre challenge called “St. Francis Way.” I only have 10% of this challenge completed, which is why I cycled like a douche and burned myself out, yesterday by punching out 51 kilometres in one sitting. But i wanted something challenging that would take more than one outing or two, and that would push the envelope a bit. That, and my wife and I agree that the medal is pretty.
There you have it, slime subjective and objective thoughts on The Conqueror Challenges. Some highlights I neglected to mention is that the organization that runs the challenges will allegedly plant a tree for every 20% of a challenge you complete, so it helps in a positive way. AND you can sync your fitness apps with the Conqueror Challenges app, which means I can measure my distance using Runkeeper and it’ll add the mileage automatically to my marathon challenge. All in all, I highly recommend this app, if you want the challenge of a marathon without the stress of running alongside others. Plus, you get to set your own timeline and get some trees planted. I believe that’s what’s referred to as a win-win… ☯️
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