Zwift began as a virtual cycling idea: video graphics programmer and amateur triathlete Jon Mayfield invented it after the birth of his first child, his PR told me, “when he found himself very time poor”. Training on an exercise bike is famously boring, so Mayfield added a gaming element, connected all the time-poor cyclist fathers across the world on the internet, and lo… one in India could race another in Australia up a virtual Alpine mountain. And pretty soon, Zwift cyclists were logging a million miles a day, which makes me wonder what the time-poor new mothers thought of it.
The running version is very new, requires less tech (you don’t need a bespoke static bike) but is not without its complications. You need a Bluetooth footpod (I had a Stryd, which costs just over £220, although cheaper options are available), and a not inconsiderable IQ to figure out how to attach it to your trainers. Obviously, you need to be on a treadmill. You download the app on to your phone, though an iPad is better for the virtual scenery. To set it up, you need to teach it your pace by doing some test running. All told, it’s probably the hardest I’ve had to concentrate since I did my A-levels, but you only have to do it once.
I’m not a fan of computer-generated scenery. It doesn’t lift my spirits. If I see a mountain, I’m only thinking of the incline and the pain. Fake snow doesn’t help. Ideally, I’d choose a road that was flat and featureless, something like the A3.
But I am a fan of the virtual running club: once you’re set up, your screen will show a number of runs, starting at regular intervals – there might be a 5k for beginners starting in 15 minutes, and when you join it you can see all these avatars running alongside you.
Look, it’s not Grand Theft Auto thrilling. You don’t get to shoot anyone. You’re not there to chat. But there is something incredible about the concept; these are actual people, usually in a different country – most of the ones I ran with were in the US – and there you are, on your run, surveying the pixels, trying to keep up with each other.
It’s not a perfect platform for beginners at the moment; only keen runners seem to engage with something so wonky, and they’re using it to push themselves, so they’d ideally like to be doing 20km, and without delay. There just aren’t as many slow-coach runs going on at any one time, and joining an intermediate when you’re not one is a mug’s game that will leave you feeling sheepish. Plus, I would never choose a treadmill over the outdoors, and I’d take the fresh air over the company.
What it’s amazing for is the introverted runner, the person who wants a little bit of camaraderie but without the challenge of real-world interaction, where you have to smile and make rueful faces. Actually, maybe that’s everybody: it’s awful having to smile when you’re exerting yourself. This could be massive.
What I learned
There is a world of virtual reality running out there, from Zwift to the RunSocial app, to watching a YouTube video of a running route while you’re at the gym.
