The 100-Mile Coronavirus Challenge

My Nike Running Club profile photo

I went to bed last night knowing that in the morning I'd be the first to complete a 100-mile challenge.  I affectionately call it my Coronavirus Challenge.

I was invited to participate by a friend in Chicago. The challenge was to encourage those that could no longer go to their closed gyms to get moving. The goal was to reach 100 miles in the month of April.

I'm not a gym-goer and have never needed a reason to get out the door. I'd been running and walking on lockdown in Italy for nearly a month when the invitation came and my far-from-home adventures had become 200-meter-from-home outings. The idea of the lady on the Nike app reporting mileage from my pocket every now and then sounded like a nice distraction, so I accepted the 100-Mile Challenge.

It wasn't long until I was near the top of the list and with a last name that starts with 'Y', being at the top of a list was new for me. The other participants signed up with their names and cute workout photos and I entered as "Tenley in Italy" and put a photo of my canal in the field. After each workout, the results were updated and your position on the list changed (or didn't). 

My goal from the beginning wasn't as much about reaching 100 miles as it was about winning. I had no doubt about completing that mileage in one month (barring unforeseen circumstances). My goal was to do it before everyone else. Until yesterday, that is, when I realized that in the 21 marathons I've run, I'd never once thought about winning. I hated the hecklers that told us after 2 hours and 5 minutes we could stop running because the race had already been won. Marathons are a self-challenge, not something to win and I suddenly felt guilty for wanting to win the Coronavirus Challenge.

I spent the next hundred laps in my 200-meter-field-away-from-home contemplating the difference between competition and challenge. I'd approached the event as a competition instead of a challenge.  In English they have different meanings but in Italian they're most often used as synonyms.  Maybe I've been living in Italy too long which explains why I attacked the Challenge with such a competitive edge.

I finished 100 miles today, the 14th of April instead of the 30th.  (My competitive side wants to whisper (instead of yell) that I started on April 5th.) I'm sure when I head out for my laps tomorrow I'm going to miss the lady in my pocket.  I'll continue checking the site and silently rooting on the participants in Chicago because it's a self-challenge and there are 16 more days to complete it. 
 
One thing is embarrassingly worth noting. I've seldom entered a competition I didn't think I could win, which is the sign of a coward, not a victor. I'm sure we'd all rather be winners than losers. But that doesn't mean losers don't deserve a victory lap.  A loser deserves a lot more than a coward.