I think I’ve gone overboard… A couple of years ago, I signed up for an app called the Conqueror Challenges. In short, you pay a marathon entry fee, which is pretty standard when you enter a marathon, and you perform a “virtual marathon,” completed a certain amount of distance in a certain amount NPF time. It’s a neat concept and the money you pay goes to planting trees or cleaning up plastic on the oceans. All in all, it’s pretty neat as a concept.
I started seeing advertisements for this thing on facebook and as I am with all things, I was a bit sceptical. After all, we now live in a world where almost EVERY advertisement for a downloadable game fails to accurately reflect what the actualmy is. For that reason, I sought out the guidance of others. I had a Facebook contact who often shared their link, so I asked him if he’d participated and/or ever received any medals. He said that he hadn’t participated himself but that one of his coworkers had, and he had physically seen the medals.
Alright, I was reasonably certain this wasn’t a scam and could be something worth trying. Considering the total cost was under $40 Canadian, I was willing to risk the loss if it fell through. Considering I’m not a big fan of large crowds and mass public gatherings at the best of times, this suited me perfectly. I downloaded the app and signed up for my first challenge. If memory serves me correctly, it was a “Marathon to Athens” and was 42.2 kilometres in distance and was to be completed over 3 weeks.
The beauty part about these challenges is that you get to set your own pace, set your own timeline and you can include any of your fitness workouts that involve distance. Cycling, running, elliptical, even swimming! When I started doing these, I focused primarily on cycling but I started incorporating my walks, as well. Since I was measuring on a daily basis, it became an interesting challenge to see how far I actually walked in the course of a day. On average, I was putting in about 6 to 8 kilometres of walking, just around the office and going on breaks. That didn’t even include going to the grocery store or running errands after work!
When the summer ended this year, I decided to back it off a notch. At about $40 a piece, there’s a whole lotta money sitting on that wall. Plus, my summer was somewhat tame in terms of how much I cycled, compared to last year. That’s why I opened by saying I think I’ve overdone it a bit. But the medals are definitely gorgeous and if you’re looking for something to spice up your fitness routine, this will definitely do it. I don’t have any link to share but if you Google “Conqueror Challenge,” you’ll find it. If you’re an iPhone user, the app is also available through the App Store. ☯️
The Blogging Buddhist 