Fitness people can be a bit stupid about their fitness. I think we can all agree on that right? As a

Fitness people can be a bit stupid about their fitness. I think we can all agree on that right? As a long time fitness person, I can say this. So they are less likely to engage in social distance appropriately unless urged to do so safely and in a way that allows them to keep burning calories.

In this time of COVID-19 we need to direct that energy appropriately.

This is a moment for mobile apps like Strava to shine. Here's what I would do if I ran Strava right now: I would organize a massive and virtual early morning race where people were encouraged to run, say, a 5K near their place at 5 AM. So then runners would be out and exercising and competing but they'd be doing it at a time when they were unlikely to interact with anyone else. The All Mobile COVID-19 Classic!

I'm sure runnerly folks are like, but the course! The course! The course wouldn't be the same! True. But I think big data could largely fix that.

Here's the thing: Strava could use its extensive data about roads to normalize everyone's courses. Participants would submit a proposed 5K route (like a "Segment, familiar to Strava users already), and Strava would automate approving it, making slight tweaks in courses in order to normalize total effort over the course (not manually, again I think the software could do this). It would take a mean total difficulty of all courses and then make everyone shorten or lengthen their courses appropriately so they are all roughly putting in as much effort over time. Like people running more uphill would be get theirs shortened a bit, and vice versa. People running on gravel or sand would shorten as well.

But what about weather? That's fine too. Strava would know what was happening at the time of the run everywhere! It would be fixed by creating more prizes. Best time under 30 degrees. Best time in the rain. Best time with snow on the ground. Etc. etc. etc.

Futher, leading up to the race, people could get badges on their profile for doing the most training before 6AM. People who did a ton would race with gold stars on their profile. A little less silver, etc.

As races go, it wouldn't be perfect but this would be a fun run, not a Boston Marathon qualifier. Still, it's a good way to galvanize people around safer behavior. Races involve big crowds and a lot of intimacy, something we do not need. But it seems like people could still get that competitive satisfaction &mdashh to a degree &mdashh safely, and it would be a good hook for broader public education.