Disclaimer: I received free entry into the Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon’s Criss-Cross Virtual Challenge to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!
My Experience with the Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon Criss-Cross Virtual Challenge
Well, I’ll start off with the honest truth….this didn’t go as planned. The Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon’s Criss Cross Virtual Challenge started on 11/5 and originally had an end date of 5/1, but actually we got an extension for logging miles and I still didn’t complete a route. Did I have fun still? YES! Would I do this again, YES! Just not pregnant! HA!
I had signed up for the challenge in October and we actually found out we were pregnant on November 10th, so the challenge had already begun. The best part is when I signed up, I signed up for the DOUBLE route! Yes, that is 659 miles. I thought, “oh how fun, I can get to know my entire state of Illinois we moved to with the fun guidebooks by doing both routes.”
Well, first trimester sucked my energy dry. I think this entire pregnancy I can count on my hands how many times I actually have “run.” I was glad I could still log miles by walking, but that didn’t get me very far either.
I wanted to share my honest experience before sharing more about the challenge, because I think it’s important to know you can still participate even if you don’t fully finish. At the beginning I felt pressure to make sure I at least finished a route, after dropping down to just the West to East route (224 miles,) but then I realized that wasn’t going to be as successful as I thought the further in pregnancy I got!
So what did I do to make it still a challenge? I changed my end goal based on what my body was capable of doing and what my progress was looking like. I said “If you can make it to Springfield, IL on the map, then that would be a success.”
I still had a great time and you definitely should check out my other BibravePRO pal’s reviews, especially Ang because she finished this challenge SO QUICKLY! I was living vicariously through her and her posts.
My review on Bibrave.com can be viewed here!
But let’s share more about the challenge and share some fun videos and photos of my experience along the way!
The Criss-Cross Virtual Challenge
Like I said above, there were 2 routes to choose from or you could do BOTH!
- North-to-South route (South Beloit, IL to Cairo, IL) which is 435 miles
- West-to-East route (East Hannibal, IL to the Illinois/Indiana border) which is 224 miles
- Both together for Double route is 659 miles
You could have signed up SOLO or TEAM (hindsight I should have teamed up with a buddy to really succeed, but honestly, it was an eye opener to me and a motivator to get miles in however I could.)
In order to log your miles, you used Race Roster and had a very user friendly manual entry. I had a lot of entries as I had pitiful .20 miles that added up and I didn’t want to lose that mileage. But what was great is that you could backlog. So I just took a day every week or every other week to log my walk progress.
This backlog option was great because individuals were able to join mid to end challenge still and backlog to November which allowed them to still make great progress and not have missed a beat!
Extras
The SWAG! It was great quality. We received the following:
- Winter-style beanie hat
- 4-ply face mask
- half zip pullover
- Challenge coin
The guidebooks were great as well. Along the way you learned about each location you would pass and I thought this was a fun and unique touch. It’s honestly what motivated me to sign up for the challenge.
Then there was even a guidebook quiz/scavenger hunt which earned an entry into a drawing for a FREE entry into their new challenge Pace & Pedal Perimeter Challenge (go check it out!)
Free monthly webinars. I wasn’t able to attend these live as I was normally busy at work, but I loved that you had the opportunity to view them and it was an added bonus to your registration. Here are a few examples of the webinars offered:
- Webinar #1 – The Prarie State: Fun Facts & Figures
- Webinar #2 – Don’t Let January Break Your Stride: Keep Stepping Safely This Winter
- Webinar #3 – Staying the Course: A Runner’s Toughest Race
- Webinar #4 – Race Directors’ Crystal Ball: What’s Up for 2021?
- Webinar #5 – Hidden Gems in the Prairie State: The Coolest Places in Illinois You Never Knew Existed
- Webinar #6 – Criss-Cross Participant “Field” Report
Overall Review
I would participate again with this challenge and it would definitely be a great postpartum motivator as well. What’s great is that I have the guidebook and nothing says I can’t try this again on my own time. I still plan to finish my route, it just may not be complete by the official challenge end date and that is OKAY! I am intrigued about the new challenge for Pace & Pedal because cycling miles are counted. I will be waiting to sign up for any race though until I feel I am recovered after baby (10.5 weeks left until arrival!!)
