What's the #Earthathon Running Relay?

A 25,000 Mile Relay Around the World That Unites Runners in an Online Community

The #Earthathon Running Relay began with a tweet. One runner (@GoRunHappy) finished a run and invited others to join him.

​That Tweet grew into an online community of runners adding their miles together to run a virtual lap around the world. ​The inaugural lap of 25,000 miles was completed on December 30, 2014.
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In 2017, the Earthathon Running Relay added a team concept. Ten teams are competing to complete the first lap.

​But, there's a twist: after the first team finishes, they join the other teams to help them finish, too. When the 10th team finishes their lap, it will mean this virtual relay has covered 250,000 miles — 10 virtual laps around the world!

The goal is to finish all ten laps around the earth in 2017, but everyone is determined to finish the relay no matter how long it takes.

​Each team has a name and a theme. You choose a relay team that suits you. I picked #Runshine because it's a "group of happy people who discovered the joy of running, day or night, 24/7." Each team has a captain and several co-leaders.

Runners Log Their Miles on Twitter with the hashtag: #Earthathon + Team Name

My mileage Tweets include #Earthathon and #Runshine (the name of my team) hashtags. Lots of runners include a photo because it's fun to see where people run. This morning I saw gorgeous photos from a run in Hawaii.

I've seen lots of interesting trails, tracks and parks all around the world because of Earthathon posts. Each one inspires and motivates me to keep running.​ There's a wonderful sense of community among the teams — everyone congratulates and encourages each other.

I try to make my posts interesting for my teammates. Here are a few recent Tweets:

Want to Join the Relay?

Sign up at www.EarthathonRelay.com. Join me on the #RunShine Team!

Watch the video below to learn more.