Last year, I started a fun smackdown with running friends on Instagram. Instead of comparing my running mileage to myself the year before, I started comparing myself to other runners. And in a effort to be more petty, insecure, and negative, I would always select a runner who specifically had less miles than me.
In December, Scott and I had such a fun run-off, and I ended up beating him by just half a mile. So it got me thinking that maybe this challenge could be more fun if each runner knew in advance we were competing for most miles in the month.
So I sent out the following invite to all 12 of my victims from last year:
Thank you for playing a role in my 2019 commitment to being more petty, insecure, and negative. It was fun to track my mileage in comparison to others, and I appreciated the good-natured sport you were when I called out that fact that I ran more miles than you in _.
For 2020, I want to keep the competitive spirit going, only this time give you a chance to strike back, so instead of only picking runners who happened to run less than me after the fact, I’m lining up runners on the front end, so everyone knows they are actually competing.
The challenge is simple. We’ll pick a month and track our miles on Strava. If you run more miles than me, we’ll make a big deal about it AND I’ll treat you to tacos and beer. But if I run more miles than you, we’ll make an even bigger deal about it AND you’ll treat me to tacos and beer.
I’m giving first options to runners I called out in 2019. What do you think? Do you think you can outrun me? You want to take me on for __?
Eleven of the twelve accepted the challenge. Then it was pretty easy to fill the twelfth spot. I had a long list of runners to invite, and the first accepted immediately.
Outrun Todd for a Month in 2020 was born. Here are the twelve challengers ranked by the total mileage they ran in 2019.
And here's what it looks like when I layer in my mileage for the last 3 years.
Ultimately, comparing myself to others pushed me to run further and comparing to my past self. Just a rationalization? Maybe, but I bet I run even further this year. AND I hope to encourage a few of my friends to reach new distances, too.