Run until you see a duck.
That was the challenge Brandon Pratt’s sister-in-law gave him in August 2020. Since then, Pratt, a 26-year-old chemical engineer, has run in pursuit of a person, place or thing proposed by the hive mind of TikTok.
“Run until the sunrise,” one person commented.
“Run until you see two people hugging,” another posted.
“Run until you see someone with the same shoes,” a third wrote.
The game has been dubbed the “run until” challenge. Pratt and a few other runners record themselves striding toward whatever TikTok wants them to find. Videos on the app tagged with #rununtil have been watched a collective 614 million times.
It’s a version of “I Spy” with an elevated heart rate.
“It’s a great way to make something that’s considered a dreadful exercise fun,” said Pratt, who lives outside Charlotte. “You put creativity into your routine.”
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‘A completely different kind of running’
Nat Long, 30, who lives in Britain, started posting videos of her own run-until challenges about a year ago.
Long has run in search of an octopus, a dog in a coat and even a polar bear — which ended up being a stuffed animal she found in a window. A run from a few months ago where Long needed to spot an igloo has been watched more than 32 million times on the app.
Long said she likes that when her followers give her a run-until goal, she doesn’t know where her run will take her or how long it will last. She admits it doesn’t always work out.“Sometimes, if I reach 10 miles, I say that’s it. I can’t find the thing,” she said.
Long said she always carries extra food and water. And, the premise of the game — to spot something as you’re running — has forced her to slow down and appreciate whatever she’s passing by.
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“It’s a completely different kind of running,” Long said.
Laura Green, 36, a former collegiate runner who now posts comedy sketches about the sport on Instagram, said she’s “found herself entranced” by these run-until challenges because she could experience the views the runner sees, such as the sun peeking over the horizon or fog lifting over a field. Runners often take themselves too seriously, she said.
“You’re taking a sport where people are just so rigid about their routine and what it takes to be a runner and you’re making it fun,” Green said.
For anyone interested in trying out a version of the run-until challenge, both Long and Pratt cautioned that people shouldn’t run farther than they’ve trained for. And “be creative,” Pratt said.
“If something says run until you see a unicorn, don’t be afraid to look in the clouds,” he said. “You don’t want to run out too far and end up lost.”
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Gamify your run
Others on the app are finding different ways to gamify their runs.
Tyler Swartz, a 28-year-old distance runner who works for a venture capital firm in New York City, is training for a 50-mile ultramarathon in May. To keep things interesting, he recently ran with a friend through three airports — JFK, LaGuardia and Newark — starting on the side of a highway, stopping at McDonald’s for some fries and meeting up with running friends along the way.
“There’s not that much land here in New York,” Swartz said. “So I’m now thinking of creative ways where I can make a different experience.”
Lucas Carr, an associate professor of health and human physiology at the University of Iowa, said that the more someone enjoys an exercise, the more likely they are to return to it and form a habit.
And turning a run into a scavenger hunt can be a way to bring a bit more fun into your workout, Carr said. “There’s a lot of upside to this kind of approach, if it’s something that people enjoy,” Carr said.
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Professional runners and coaches say the TikTok run-until challenge also brings some levity to what are often monotonous workouts. And the game is going viral at a time when ultramarathons — races longer than the traditional 26.2-mile marathon — are becoming more popular.
David Roche, a trail and ultramarathon running coach in Boulder, Colo., said running should be a chance to play, not just work.
“Anything that adds playfulness to the process of training is incredible,” Roche said. “And I’m not just talking about people who may struggle to get out the door. I’m also talking about professional athletes who do this as a living.”
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