May 19, 2020
Meet the 3 Week Run/Walk Challenge top competitors
By Robin Brooks
This spring UW Recreation coordinated a virtual 3 Week Run/Walk Challenge. We reached out to the top competitors Emily Vu and Travis Cox to get their insights into this unique opportunity; their thoughts are below on competing in the event.
But first, a little about the challenge: the goal each week was to complete the assigned distance, with miles not carrying over into the next week. For week one individuals walked, jogged, and/or ran a 5K; week two was a 10K, and week three was the distance of a half marathon. Miles could be broken up into multiple days with the goal of completing the assigned distance within the one-week period.
Fifty-three participants signed up for the challenge, 43 actively participated, and 39 participants completed the challenge.
Emily Vu, Top Competitor
Emily completed a distance of 93.17 miles, with a time of 28:16:56, and at a pace of 0:18:13!
Emily: It was great experience for me participating in the 3 week run/walk challenge. It was a great motivator to stay active and healthy during this time, and I was able to explore a lot of the trails around my house by running along them almost every day.
Rec: What is your past experience with intramural sports?
Emily: I have played in several soccer leagues organized through UW intramurals.
Rec: Why did you participate in virtual intramurals?
Emily: I have always participated in one intramural sport each quarter and the quarantine was not going to stop me from staying active. Before this challenge started I was already competing against friends and family in a weekly Fitbit step challenge to see who could get the most steps during the week. I thought it would be fun and a new challenge for me to compete against other UW students.
Rec: What was the biggest challenge you faced participating in this event?
Emily: The biggest challenge was getting into the routine of running every day. I would often start the week with lots of energy and motivation, for the first couple of days I would run a lot but by mid-week I would feel myself starting to burn out. What kept me going was the strong sense of competitiveness inside of me and wanting to be at the top of the leaderboard.
Rec: What value did you find while participating in this event/virtual intramurals?
Emily: I developed a stronger sense of discipline through this challenge. On days that I felt tired or the weather was heavy rain I still pushed myself to get outside and walk for a couple miles. The hardest part was getting outside but once I stepped out and started my run, I was happy to be outside.
Rec: Are you or do you plan to participate in any other virtual UW Rec programs?
Emily: I am currently also participating in the Step Counting Competition.
Travis Cox, Top Competitor
Travis completed a distance of 122.26 miles, in a time of 20:41:23, and at a pace of 0:10:09!
Rec: What is your past experience with intramural sports?
Travis: I don’t have any past experience with intramural sports at UW although I am a member of the Husky Triathlon Club. Outside of UW, I am part of a running club based in Mukilteo called the Japanese Gulch Runners, named after the park where we do a lot of our running. Additionally, I regularly compete in trail running events, and have finished several marathons and ultra-marathons.
Rec: Why did you participate in virtual intramurals?
Travis: I decided to participate in the virtual intramural because of the challenge. I do a lot of trail running and had several challenging races planned for the spring but due to the shutdown all of these were canceled. This gave me another way to challenge and push myself.
Rec: What was the biggest challenge you faced participating in this event?
Travis: The biggest challenge that I faced was the amount of road running I had to do. I primarily run on trails and those tend to be a lot nicer on joints. On some of those higher mileage days, I could definitely feel it.
Rec: What value did you find while participating in this event/virtual intramurals?
Travis: The value that I found was being able to compete and be challenged even though I never was face to face with the people I was competing against. I am used to a standard race format where you are mingling with other runners and pushing and helping each other. Being able to see how everyone was doing each week was really inspiring and helped me push myself.
Rec: Are you or do you plan to participate in any other virtual UW Rec programs?
Travis: I am currently in the last week of the Team Step Counting Challenge that the virtual UW rec program is putting on. That competition ends on the 16th so I am still doing my best to get as many miles in as I can. Beyond that, I haven’t decided.
Congratulations to our top competitors as well as those who finished or even attempted to complete the challenge. We’re so proud of all our Huskies and can’t wait to see you all again when we’re able to. #staystafe #stayhealthy