Running after the pandemic. What are online starts and how to perform well at them?

Although the time of self-isolation is behind us, the effects of the pandemic will continue to affect all areas of our lives for a long time to come. Amateur sports have also been affected by this difficult time.

Races, including the majors, have become more frequent online. But the format cannot be called absolutely new: such competitions were held before the coronavirus epidemic. However, the quarantine forced the running community to take a new look at unusual starts.

New Balance Team Russia athlete Alexander Storozhev helped us to understand their peculiarities. In May 2020, he ran online Wings for Life, as a result of which he took sixth place in the world ranking of participants, and he is not going to stop there.

“It’s a family thing”: the beginning of running history and first experience online

Where did my running story begin? In a nutshell, it runs in the family. My parents were involved in track and field athletics, and my first coach was my older sister, who received her coaching education at P.F. Lesgaft NSU.

I didn’t take part in online races until 2020, it was completely new to me. The lack of starts due to the pandemic made me look at a lot of things in a new way.

The first online race for me was on May 3. I went to the start of Wings for Life with the goal of overcoming a new milestone for me – to run 50 kilometers. The format is different from the usual conditions. In it, the one who runs more than others and at a higher pace wins. On the organizers’ website there is a special calculator for this purpose. According to it, I had to run at a speed not lower than 4.08/km to overcome the distance.

A week before the start, my coach gave me an interesting plan. However, at that moment we didn’t really understand what to prepare for in the season. Cancellations and postponements were already in full swing. On Tuesday I ran a lot of fartlek (a kind of interval training – Ed.) and afterwards I found out that the WFL would be held on Sunday. I made my final decision on Wednesday and bought a slot then. The coach had to redesign the workouts.

All I had to do to participate successfully was to start at 14:00 Moscow time, have a phone with a stable mobile connection and headphones. I took wired ones to save battery and turned on the night mode. A special application tracked my movement by GPS signal. Every kilometer I heard an audio notification with information about my average pace and a couple of motivational phrases.

Even in the online format, the WFL organizers did not give up the chip – a car that “chases” the runner and serves as a mobile finish line. In this case, the catcher-car was virtual. The app had a graph showing how far away the auto was. I was in control by pace.

The first 10 kilometers I forced myself to hold back, up to 30 everything went gently. It was comfortable for me: I was shooting “stories” on the way, talking to the guys accompanying me, giving instructions on nutrition. Somewhere after the 25th kilometer I made a little show: we contacted the coach via live broadcast on Instagram. Now I realize that this was the most important moment of the race. In addition to advice from my coach right during the race, I received a lot of support from my followers. The recording of the broadcast is in my feed.

The work started after the 30th kilometer. The section between the 30th and 40th through Sestroretsk was quite hard and relief. By the way, the marathon came out to 2:45.07.

I informed the attendants that I intend to run 55 km – the pace allows. Here began the most interesting thing. My friend Kostya Kahn opened the online table of the race. The participants started pouring in and literally every next 100 meters were rapidly moving me towards the leaders. “Sanya, we’re in the hundredth!… Fifty already, be patient… Work, there are already 30 of you left”. After 52-53 kilometers I started to feel light cramps, fatigue set in, pain spreading through my body.

Kostya rode next to me all the time, on his bicycle. He was singing songs and yelling at me: “More! To the end, don’t slow down! Ten!” I was getting there.

There was nothing left of my comfortable state, but I could still move at a pace of 4.05-4.10/km. There was a nasty sound and the voice assistant announced that the car was catching up. With 500 virtual meters between us, I gritted my teeth and accelerated. Again the voice in my headphones: “I catch you!”.

In the end, 57.7 kilometers at a pace of 3.55/km and sixth place among 70 thousand participants around the world. I was overwhelmed with emotion and feeling wildly tired.

“Start in one moment around the world”: features of online races and preparation

In 2020, this format has tangibly grown and several directions appeared. The most common and boring – “run a marathon anywhere, but on a certain day and get a medal in the mail from the organizer”.

Much more interesting and sporty looks FKT – fast known time. Here the task is to run faster than others a certain route. In addition, online multi-day competitions have started to appear: running volume tasks and so on.

Anyone can take part in online competitions. Previously, they did not attract professionals, but the situation in the world has changed everything. Now strong athletes compete in this format to keep in shape.

Preparation for online is no different from training before a normal race. But there are differences, of course. For example, you need to have a watch with GPS or a smartphone to track your route in one of the running applications. Most often the results are recorded just with the help of trackers. A lot depends on the technique and the quality of the signal. Where GPS can go astray, it’s best not to run online distances.

The rules of some starts allow you to run not only on the street, but also on the track. But personally, I hardly ever run on a trainer. Only the street, only hardcore.

The main disadvantage of online races, as far as I’m concerned, is a weak sense of competition or none at all. If the start takes place at the same moment all over the world, you can still keep track of your rivals, but in other cases it is primarily a struggle with yourself and the stopwatch.

Often online marathons are a charity story, like the WFL. Starting donations go to a special fund. You can also choose how much you want to donate additionally.

“The city plays a big role”: major marathons go online

The London Marathon is coming up, but this year the number of face-to-face participants has been severely limited. You can run online, but I think I’ll wait until next year and hopefully I’ll be able to run on the streets of the UK – I haven’t been there yet and I’m looking forward to the trip. Still, 42km is a lot of work for me, and I don’t want to do it outside of London.

I think the majors have the most to lose from having to go online. The city plays a big role in these races. Whether it’s New York, Chicago, Berlin, Tokyo, Boston, they all have an impressive history, including sports history.

How online at the majors differs from the format at smaller competitions, it is still difficult to say – we will see and compare on the example of London. My New Balance teammate Sasha Borodinova will take part in the race on October 4 – I will be rooting for her. But it seems to me that the difference between a major and an ordinary start will be offset by the online format.