Last year, Ridiculo.us put on a fake marathon called the Run Free Race. Funded through Kickstarter, participants got all the trappings of a marathon—T-shirts, race bibs, “maps,” and even medals—but there was no actual race. On February 2, everyone was encouraged to put on their gear, lace up their sneakers, and post some photos of themselves running a marathon on Twitter, Facebook, etc. The result was fantastic: bacon aid stations, a guy running on the moon, somebody else running with the bulls, costumes, you name it.
This year, Run Free Race 2014 (to be held on May 10) isn’t just a marathon: it’s an adventure race. Photograph your own obstacle courses. Want to be chased by zombies? While climbing a mountain? Made of tumbleweeds? Tweet a photo, and it was part of the race! Personally, I think it would be fun to photograph a group of runners trying to play a moving board game. I also realized that a good friend of mine is getting married on that date—which doesn’t mean I can’t participate. All it takes is a couple photos. Heck, maybe I can get the whole wedding party involved! (Disclosure: last year I took my Run Free Race photos a day in advance, because I was going to be unavailable on the actual date.)
Register for as little as $10 (without the T-shirt), $25 (with T-shirt), or $50 (includes medal), or get five friends and go for the six-pack. Check out the Kickstarter page for more details.
I think I’m going to knuckle down this year and do it. For the kids.