New Rock ‘N’ Roll Virtual Running Series Launches Globally, Bringing Running Community Together as Part of The Innovative Rock ‘N’ Roll Virtual Running Club Platform

April 22, 2020

- New Rock ‘n’ Roll Virtual Running Club allows walkers and runners to race, engage, and connect with the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series community from anywhere - Rock ‘n’ Roll VR1 will consist of 5K run and kicks off at 5 p.m. ET on Friday, April 24

TAMPA, Fla. (April 22, 2020) – The Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series^®, a part of The IRONMAN Group, today announced the addition of the Rock ‘n’ Roll^® Virtual Running™ (VR™) Series to its portfolio of events, giving walkers and runners alike a start line from anywhere in the world with distances for everyone. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Virtual Running Series will be offered exclusively through the newly launched Rock ‘n’ Roll^® Virtual Running Club™ (VRC™), a web-based platform allowing runners to race, engage and connect with a new series of weekly races, challenges, and rewards.

“For over twenty years, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series community has been Bringing Fun to the Run^® through a mixture of music, community and celebrating achievement,” says Andrew Messick, President & CEO for The IRONMAN Group. “At our core, it is about finding fun and motivation in the moments that challenge us. While this seems truer and more important than ever before, this has always been the brand’s heartbeat. We believe that this new Rock ‘n’ Roll Virtual Running Club will enable the running community to stay active, find structure and reach their finish lines in a positive, flexible and safe environment as they come together through a common passion.”

The new Rock ‘n’ Roll Virtual Running Club will offer options for everyone including challenges and virtual races in a variety of distances. The inaugural virtual race, Rock ‘n’ Roll VR1, will be open and available to the entire global community and consist of a 5K run. Starting this week, virtual races will begin weekly on Fridays at 5 p.m. ET and close Sundays at 8 p.m. ET.

To compete for and earn rewards and additional benefits, participants will track their activity by a GPS and heartrate device and upload to the member dashboard for tracking and displaying activity, member leaderboards, and rewards. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Virtual Running Club platform is compatible with many of the top wearable technology devices, including Suunto, Garmin, MapmyRun, and Polar, among others.

The virtual race collection from the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series will feature fun, community-inspired events with distances for everyone. ​

Rock ‘n’ Roll Virtual Running Club

• Runner Dashboard – The athlete’s home base within the Rock ‘n’ Roll Virtual Running Club. Runners can log their races, see their upcoming Rock ‘n’ Roll Virtual Running Series events and challenges, and view achievement badges on this easy-to-navigate dashboard.
• The Beat – While participants run and race in this new virtual space, resources will be incorporated into a section of the platform called The Beat, making Rock ‘n’ Roll Virtual Running Club a central destination for all participant’s racing needs. Content will include a library of instructional and motivational videos and articles for users with information related to fitness, nutrition, running, coaching, community and of course playlists. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series’ nonprofit partners, Rock This Town^®, a program of the IRONMAN Foundation and St. Jude, will be featured in the Community section of the platform.
• Events – The Rock ‘n’ Roll VR Series will rotate through of a variety of distances including 5K, 10K and half marathon with the inaugural virtual race, Rock ‘n’ Roll VR1, consisting of a 5K run. Rock ‘n’ Roll VR1 will be open and available for the entire community beginning on Friday, April 24 at 5 p.m. ET with competition continuing until race close on Sunday, April 26 at 8 p.m. ET.
• Challenges – ​ Rock ‘n’ Roll Virtual Running Club will offer a number of community and partner inspired challenges each week, including challenges from Brooks Running, United Airlines, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Science in Sport. The challenges will be available for free to all to participate in providing a fun way for walkers and runners to train, race, achieve goals, get rewarded and have fun with fellow Rock ‘n’ Rollers from anywhere in the world.
• Rewards – The more activity, training and racing walkers and runners do, the more points they gain. Points are earned by distance traveled (not time) and accumulate throughout the year and showcase how athletes stack up against each other. Points also convert into Credits, which can be redeemed for rewards that are showcased in this section of the platform.

Full details and specifics regarding the Rock ‘n’ Roll Virtual Running Series and Rock ‘n’ Roll Virtual Running Club are available on www.runrocknrollvr.com. For more information on the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series, please visit the website at www.runrocknroll.com. Press may contact to press@runrocknroll.com.

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About Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series^® is the world’s largest running series taking part in over 30 destination events around the world every year. Established in 1998, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series simple idea of making running fun has transformed both the U.S. and global running landscape by infusing the course with live bands, cheer teams and entertaining water stations, creating a block-party atmosphere for participants and spectators alike. Focused on running, music and community, race weekend kicks off with a free Health & Fitness Expo showcasing the latest in running gear, sports apparel, health and nutritional information and much more. Events culminate with an entertaining finish-line festival featuring some of the biggest names in music, with past performances including Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, O.A.R. Aloe Blacc, Pitbull, Flo Rida, The Band Perry, Fitz and the Tantrums, the Goo Goo Dolls and Bret Michaels. Further information about the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series can be found online at www.RunRocknRoll.com and follow @RunRocknRoll on all social platforms.

About The IRONMAN Group

The IRONMAN Group operates a global portfolio of events that includes the IRONMAN^® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN^® 70.3^® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN^® Virtual Racing™ (VR™) Series, 5150™ Triathlon Series, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series^®, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Virtual Running™ Series, IRONKIDS^®, ITU World Triathlon Series, premier running events including the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon™ and The Sun-Herald City2Surf^® presented by Westpac, Ultra-Trail^® World Tour events including Tarawera Ultra and Ultra-Trail Australia™, mountain bike races including the Absa Cape Epic^®, road cycling events, and other multisport races. The IRONMAN Group is the largest operator of mass participation sports in the world and provides more than a million participants annually the benefits of endurance sports through the company’s vast offerings. Since the inception of the iconic IRONMAN^® brand and its first event in 1978, athletes have proven that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE^® by crossing finish lines around the world. Beginning as a single race, The IRONMAN Group has grown to become a global sensation with more than 235 events across 55+ countries. On March 26, 2020, Wanda Sports Group (Nasdaq: WSG) entered into an agreement to sell The IRONMAN Group to Advance; closing is anticipated in mid-2020. For more information, visit www.ironman.com.