Fitwins is a top-rated virtual running app that pairs interactive challenges with real rewards.
With Fitwins, you earn awesome medals for completing motivational running challenges that sync virtual routes with Street View.
Where will your next challenge take you?
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“FITWINS means winning physically & mentally, taking on a challenge and exceeding your goals.”
I was looking forward to my usual ten mile run home from work. It was a glorious summer evening and I was feeling great. Each mile split was getting faster and I was enjoying running with the sun at my back. I stopped my watch at the end in 57mins and commented to my wife (Tracy) that I’d had a good run and told her the time. “You’d have won a prize if you did that in a race,” was Tracy’s response.
As I was sat having my post-run coffee, an idea came into my head – Why shouldn’t I get a medal? Why shouldn’t I get a prize? Why shouldn’t I get something for my training? I’m doing lots of miles each month with nothing to show for it. Why don’t people get medals for how many miles they run in a month?
That evening I started designing my own monthly distance challenge targets for the next few months and based them on famous running routes. I’d dreamed of running the Sahara Desert and covering an ultra-distance race (Marathon des Sables). I created a running route based on the race, designed a Sahara Challenge medal and invited people to take part in a monthly challenge to see how far they could run in one month.
I was now thinking of a name for something that had started as an idea and was getting quite a lot of interest on social media. Again, as my best ideas seem to happen whilst I’m running, a name entered my head – FITWINS – as I believe everyone who embraces an active lifestyle wins both physically and mentally.
As an athlete, I didn’t win all of my races, but I enjoyed the challenge of doing my best. I’d had it drilled into me from day one by my father that winning is about trying to do your best. FITWINS means winning physically & mentally, taking on a challenge and exceeding your goals. You might not finish first, but if you’re taking on a challenge, then you’re a winner. Earning a medal is a great source of pride to everyone who completes one of our challenges, so we make sure our medals are premium quality, with a bespoke Fitwins design.
I also wanted to make sure that each person who completed the challenge would receive a medal plus quality products from partners, including Revvies Energy Strips, TRIBE nutrition and 361 running shoes. AfterShokz now sponsors our challenges too. We only work with premium partners that support runners in their endeavours and have a premium quality product that we send out in our packs.
In early 2020, Covid hit and changed pretty much everything, with restrictions put in place on meeting other people in groups. This presented a challenge to keep people motivated and active during the lockdown. With the interest we had from our challenges, in which people had previously submitted manual evidence by email, we decided to create the Fitwins App so users could see their progress along a real route, create groups with their friends and complete milestones on the real routes. We added cycling to the app, and despite the challenges presented by Covid, thousands of people have taken part in our challenges and continue to do so.
To date, we have had people from all over the world take part in our challenges. We’ve had entries from the USA, Canada, Australia, Austria, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Uganda, France, and the Netherlands, in addition to our home base in Sheffield, UK.
We’ve had so many positive comments; it’s hard to believe what started with that ten-mile run. We have some amazing things happening in the next few months, and we like to keep making things even better. As an athlete, I look for improvement and strive for high standards – the same applies to how we run our challenges.
I had to include a photo of me below, running my best-ever race – a 2.23 time in the London Marathon. In front of me, there are lots of medals! The photograph shows that if you want to achieve something, go for it – make it happen and keep being awesome.
Carl Ryde
FITWINS Founder
Join our vibrant community, with people at all ages and stages of their fitness journey.
Not sure how virtual fitness works?
The easiest way to learn is to try Fitwins for yourself! The app is free to download, and you only pay for challenges you take part in, so why not take it for a test drive?
In the meantime, here are the answers to some of our most frequently asked questions about how Fitwins compares to other virtual walking challenges.
No! We believe that flexibility is the key to fitness success, so instead of forcing you to complete a set distance, we let you set your own goal. This means you can be flexible in how you complete YOUR challenge: so if you are smashing your target, you can raise the bar and aim for more.
All entries into our challenge will receive a great medal, with a ribbon specific to the challenge type.
For our “iconic challenges”, your ribbon will have a unique design related to the challenge. For our regular monthly challenges, your ribbon will reflect the total distance you covered.
Running and walking ribbons are awarded based on 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175 and 200+ miles. Cycling ribbons are for distances of 50km, 100km, 200km, 500km, 1000km, 2000km and 3000km.
Absolutely! Not only that, but all the distance you’ve covered since the start of the month will count, as the Fitwins App syncs with Strava and logs all activities from the start of the month, regardless of what date you sign up for the challenge.
If you are hitting the streets with your app activated, verification is completed automatically by sycning with Strava. You can focus on completing your challenge, and we’ll take care of the rest.
If you’re using a treadmill, exercycle or other stationary equipment for some of your challenge, you’ll need to log this manually.
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