Bloomberg Square Mile Relay’s ‘Virtual Club’ promotes health and social impact
July 17, 2020
Last weekend, the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay – described as the only global corporate relay running race of its kind that places team building, employee well-being and local community support at the heart of the event - launched the ‘Virtual Club’ a new free-to-access online race challenge platform to connect people across the globe, encourage healthy lifestyles and deliver positive social impact.
Due to the pandemic, the organisers have had to postpone the remainder of the races from 2020 to 2021. However, with the new free-to-access Virtual Club, its global network of runners can now come together online to earn points for their teams and continue to go ‘The Extra Mile to support the relay’s global charity partners.
Participants compete against their colleagues and the global community in a series of virtual races and challenges, earning daily activity points to help unlock donations for the local charities. They also have access to information and training tips on nutrition, fitness, mental health and physical wellbeing. Hundreds have already signed up, including participants from Mumbai, Singapore, Sydney, New York, Tokyo, Sao Paulo, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Dubai, Shanghai and London.
The Extra Mile initiative became part of the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay in 2018, helping participants contribute to their city in a deeper way by running for the cause they care about. Since its inception, the program has donated almost $1m to local charity partners across the 12 cities that use sport and physical activity to address specific social challenges in that city. The Virtual Club will support the current public health issues caused by COVID-19.
Managing Director, James Hassett, reflected on the desire to bring communities together and inspire healthy living and exercise in cities around the world: “For some time we have been asking ourselves how we can improve the overall experience by creating a more globalised competition, making the event more engaging year-round and also by giving a more meaningful connection to the local social development work we do through The Extra Mile program in each city.
"The Virtual Club is going to enable us to do exactly just that. Users will be able to unlock $90,000 per month for the first three months if and when the average points per user is over 1,000 for the month. In October there will then be an extra $30,000 bonus donation for the city that has been the most active and accumulated the most points on platform. We hope everyone will take on the challenge; get more active and help donate to their local community too!”
By registering for the Virtual Club, each team member automatically registers for The Extra Mile challenge and every point earned on the platform - by either walking or running - counts towards the Global Challenge. Every step taken makes a difference!
Participants can also earn bonus points by signing up and taking part in events on the platform. All points contribute to their company’s monthly total average points per member.
People that are interested in taking part, but don’t live in one of the 12 race cities can still join the Virtual Club by selecting a city that has as the closest link to them by location, previous participation, nationality or sentiment. The Bloomberg Square Mile Relay is committed to continuing the great work and positive impact of The Extra Mile programs around the world, giving the global Relay community the opportunity to unlock up to $300,000 in donations in 2020.
The Extra Mile program was designed and implemented by our sister company thinkBeyond. Square Mile Sport, which runs the relay series, is part of Benchmark – a company that creates and invests in purpose-driven business.