Run A 5K Race Via Twitter?

May 12, 2009 · Filed Under Running News, Uncategorized 

For those athletes looking for an excuse to jump on the Twitter bandwagon, you may have your answer. The Tweet 5K is just like a regular 5K road race, except that…. well… Okay, it’s nothing like a regular 5K road race. It does have sponsors, including (appropriately) internet-based Seesmic Desktop and Zappos.com, you can get a t-shirt, they offer prizes, and it’s a fund raiser (beneficiary is Athletes For A Cure). Oh, and you’re supposed to run. But it’s the actual running of the race that’s, well, different.

To “compete” in the race, you run a time trial on any measured course or 400 meter track. Record your time and then report in via your Twitter account. You get three tries, and the “race” concludes the evening of May 30th. All times are to be reported on the honor system, and winners must verify their time with a documented “real” race time within 3% of their Tweet 5K time.

While there have been many other report-your-own-time races, and virtual races, the Tweet 5K is presumably the first race promoted and managed totally via Twitter. Indeed, the tag line of the event is “the first race produced entirely in 140 characters” – the size limit of a Twitter message, or tweet (sigh, I hate using that word…).

Regardless of the fact that this event offers no real head to head competition, it will present an interesting case study of how Twitter and other web 2.0 tools can be leveraged for event marketing and fund raising. With a $1000 cash prize offered, it’s significant enough to draw attention. Participants using the #tweet5k hashtags create a self-perpetuating community (see http://twitter.pbworks.com/Hashtags for explanation of hashtags). And they do a great job of keeping momentum with their tweets announcing daily prizes such as a pair of running shoes, a slot in the NYC Marathon, and even cash money!

So if you’ve not used Twitter and are looking for an excuse to try it out, the Tweet 5K (tweet5k.org) will give you a chance to join an active-minded community and try out some of the features of Twitter. An account is easy to set up, and you might find it to be useful. And yes, Racing Colorado is on Twitter and provides updates on events relevant to endurance athletes in Colorado. Feel free to follow us at twitter.com/racingcolorado.

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