This month, we challenged every athlete on Strava to start the year off strong and let January set the tone for the rest of 2014. With the first week of our month long Prove It Challenges for both runners and cyclists completed, we thought you’d like to see your progress.
Runners, don’t stop. Cyclists, pick it up.
As you can see, participants in the Prove It – Run Challenge are well on their way to exceeding the previous Challenge record of 1,521,922 kilometers. Kudos, keep up the hard work.
Cyclists on the other hand, have some ground to make up if you hope to break the previous record of 46,453,244 kilometers. As far as we see it, you have two options: 1. ramp up your riding for the rest of the month, or 2. rally your friends to join the Challenge and contribute. At this point, we’d suggest both.
We thought it would be fun to also compare Challenge participation by country. As it stands now, the podium looks to be a battle between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. The rest of the placings are far from decided, with plenty of other countries are currently in the running.
To keep the chart legible, we’ve shown the top 25 countries. If you don’t see your nation listed, get out there and rally your teammates and training partners to put some heat on the map. You’ve still got until the 31st to rack up the kilometers.
On the cycling side it’s a pretty close battle between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, though our athletes down south are substantially more active. Cyclists in Australia make 13% of total participants, but are contributing just over 20% of the total distance. For comparison, the United States and United Kingdom are right around 20% participants and 20% total distance.
Yes, we know it’s summer down in the southern hemisphere. But don’t forget the United Kingdom has ~3X the population and the United States has ~14X the populations. Cyclists up north might not be able to ride more per person, but you can certainly win with more bodies.
Prove Your Story, Win a Prove it Tee!
In addition to this month’s Challenge, we want to hear your stories. Prove you can run your first or fiftieth marathon. Prove you can climb a famous or familiar peak. Prove you beat your own PR or CR on a segment. Don’t be shy; tell people what you are out to prove. Share stories, take creative photos and prove your endeavors via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and blog using the hashtag #stravaproveit.
Last week’s winners are shown below.
Each day, throughout the month of January we’ll be giving away a Prove it tee to the athletes that send us proof. We will also be featuring the great stories, grand goals and best examples of what Strava athletes are out to prove in 2014. If you don’t have an idea today, you’ve got until the 31st to prove it.