About Us and Frequently asked questions
About Us
Race The Distance was founded in Bournemouth, UK, in the spring of 2017 with one simple goal: to make fitness challenges fun, inclusive, and truly motivating. From the very beginning, we’ve rewarded every achievement with stunning medals designed to celebrate your hard work.
Our events are for everyone. Whether you prefer to walk, run, cycle, row, swim, or take part using a wheelchair — every single challenge is open to you.
We know life is busy, which is why all of our challenges are designed to fit around your lifestyle. You choose the time, the place, and the pace.
In 2021, we introduced real-time tracking, making our events even more engaging. Every entry comes with a personalised link sent straight to your inbox, giving you access to instructions, tracking maps, leaderboards, and the ability to monitor your own progress while seeing how others are doing too. When you cross the finish line on your virtual map, we’re instantly notified to dispatch your medal.
Customer care is at the heart of what we do — we aim to reply to emails within minutes during working hours. Simply use our Contact Us page, and your message will reach us directly by email.
By the summer of 2024, we’re proud to have built our finest-ever collection of medals and welcomed thousands of repeat challengers who return year after year.
Most importantly, together with our amazing community, we’ve raised over £150,000 for charities including: the Grenfell Tower Trust, Royal British Legion, SSAFA, Help for Heroes, The Red Cross, UNICEF, RSPCA, The Alzheimer’s Society, Mind, Cancer Research UK, The Autism Society, Dogs Trust, The National Forest, and many more.
In 2019, we were privileged to form a partnership with British Rowing. Through our dedicated platform, rowthedistance.com, we’ve been able to bring our virtual challenges to the rowing community. Encouraging participation in sport, supporting health and wellbeing, and helping people reach their fitness goals remain at the core of everything we do.
Join us today — set your challenge, earn your medal, and be part of something bigger.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Virtual Challenge?
A virtual challenge can be completed anywhere, at any time. You can run, jog, walk, cycle, swim, use a wheelchair – whatever works best for you. There are no restrictions, and we aim to make our challenges as inclusive as possible.
Complete the distance at your own pace, track it in your own way, and once you’ve finished, we’ll ship your medal directly to you.
I haven’t received my tracking link
Sometimes emails get filtered into spam or junk folders, so please check there first. If it’s not there, send us a quick message via our contact page. We have all links on hand and can resend them within minutes.
I haven’t received my medal
Medals are usually delivered within 2–4 working days after completing your challenge. If a week has passed and your medal hasn’t arrived, please get in touch via the contact page and we’ll look into it right away.
I don’t have Strava, can I still enter?
Yes! All challenge links allow you to manually enter your time and distance. Whatever app, device, or method you use to track your activities, you can still log your challenge.
My Strava runs aren’t appearing on my log
Even if your Strava account is linked, activities won’t upload automatically. To add them:
1. Go to your challenge link.
2. Click “Add to log”.
3. Select the activities you’d like to include from the dropdown list.
Can I just send a screenshot instead of using the link?
Yes, that’s absolutely fine!
I bought multiple entries but only received one link
No problem. Just message us via the contact page with the names of the other participants, and we’ll create and send separate links for them.
Can I backdate my mileage if I joined late?
Yes. For example, annual challenges can be backdated to 1st January, and the same applies for monthly or seasonal challenges.
I’m stuck on the Date of Birth screen
Please enter your date of birth in the format: yyyy-mm-dd (with dashes).
I have another question
No problem at all – we’re here to help. Drop us an email anytime using the contact page. We reply quickly during working hours and do our best to answer messages over the weekend too.