Trail near the flatirons.

Three Creeks Challenge

Run/Walk/Hike to your first half marathon.

Starts on: Sunday, Sep 15 6:00 AM

Finishes on: Tuesday, Dec 31 8:00 PM

Cost: $0.00 *Does not include optional motivator

Register For Challenge Add Results Results

Velocity Colorado has sponsored this half marathon challenge - www.VelocityColorado.com

Before the end of the year, you'll need to complete 6 different trails that total to a half marathon.

Trails

 - See quests listed below for more details on course maps and distances.

You can complete these trails at any time, in any order.  We track GPS results and calculate all kinds of things like your performance score, your equivalent pace, your vo2 max, an equalizer score so you can race yourself, and we even include an AI training plan if you're really wanting to improve.

If you stop to play in the creek, follow a caterpillar or go off trail to find the perfect stick, the GPS results my be slightly off.  If the Auto Sync doesn't work, then just upload the results manually.

Want some extra motivation - if you complete all 6 courses before 2025 you will earn a medal.


The Motivator - an awesome thing.

We design our motivators to be unique for each challenge, and you can only earn it by submitting results for every quest. They are however very costly and make up the majority of our fee, so we also allow you to opt out for much cheaper.


Trail near the flatirons.

*You'll be able to choose your size/color/version on the registration screen.


Challenge Quests

To finish the challenge, you must complete each quest within the alloted timeframe.


Anne U. White
Anne U. White
Boulder, CO

An out and back hike in a beautiful wooded setting with multiple river crossings.

Sun, Sep 15 6:00 AM - Dec 31 8:00 PM
2.63 Miles

Bobolink
Bobolink
Boulder, CO

An out and back course on a relatively flat trail along a river.

Sun, Sep 15 6:00 AM - Dec 31 8:00 PM
2.49 Miles

McKay Lake Loop
McKay Lake Loop
Westminster, CO

An iconic loop around the lake

Sun, Sep 15 6:00 AM - Dec 31 8:00 PM
1.5 Miles

College Loop
College Loop
Westminster, CO

A delightful mix of dirt trails and smooth pavement.

Sun, Sep 15 6:00 AM - Dec 31 8:00 PM
1.3 Miles

Clear Creek
Clear Creek
Golden, CO

A nice trail along the Clear Creek river.

Sun, Sep 15 6:00 AM - Dec 31 8:00 PM
2.61 Miles

Shanahan North Fork
Shanahan North Fork
Boulder, CO

A nice route through the woods in Boulder.

Sun, Sep 15 6:00 AM - Dec 31 8:00 PM
2.52 Miles


Rules:

Welcome To A Quest Challenge!

This is more than just a regular run; it's an experience aimed at fostering motivation and personal improvement.  The Day Quest offers a range of quests - Time Quests, Exploratory Quest, Treasure Quests, and Challenge Quests.  Although, we believe all quests are Time Quests.

Time Quests - typically held on ideal courses to run a PR, to fly down smooth trails, or to push one's self.  We require participants to upload their GPS activities to get accurate results.

Exploratory Quests - many runners find that they run the same trails regularly.  This can be meditative, but in talking with many race participants, we've heard that people often register for races to explore somewhere new.  We love this and want to find ideal courses that are fairly easy to follow and offer something new.

Treasure Quests - this is largely experimental, but we think treasure hunting and adventure races are awesome.  For any treasure quest, each runner will be given a clue, or series of clues, after they finish.  The first person to solve these clues will receive the "treasure", which could be anything from actual gold to a prize to something else (don't expect the world, but something unique).

Challenge Quests - challenge quests have a distinct goal - finish.  Each challenge has a different focus or theme, but they'll almost all have multiple quests associated to them.  For each challenge, we'll still track results at the individual quest level, but we'll also track your results at the challenge level. 

Joining the Run: Guidelines and Rules

  • Primary Rule: Stay Motivated!
Tracking Your Run
  • Start a new activity for your quest - Just as if you were on the start line of a race, we recommend that you start your run activity near the start line and stop it near the finish line.  We believe we've figured out ways to extract your course time from your overall activity, but it's not always perfect and crossing the start/finish lines can wreck havoc with understanding your intentions.  You start and stop your watch for other races, so do it here.
  • Run - Don't bike, or roller skate, or drive, or do anything but run - just don't.  We allow crab walks, but only ones uploaded online with the hashtag - #TheDayQuest.
  • Upload your results on time - Your results track the time of your run.  When you upload, we will check to make your the activity took place during the quest period, that the time when you uploaded took place during the quest period, and that the activity matches the course.
  • Register before you upload - If you try to run a quest and upload to Garmin without first registering for the quest, we will ignore your activity.
  • We track elapsed time, not moving time.
  • Don't upload activities from where you live or work - If you upload an activity longer than the course, we'll do our best to deal with it, but we'll show your full activity.  We enjoy privacy as much as the next person, so don't share more than you're comfortable with.  If you sync with Garmin, we will look at your activities in the following way - 1) we will store any activities that take place during the time frame of a quest you're registered for.  These will not be public at all.  We will then analyze any activities within the quest period to determine if they match the course.  If they do, we will then do further analysis to determine your time on the course, and add your activity as a result for the quest.  You can delete any of your quests.  The only public details will be your results for the quest.

Winning/Finishing: Here's What You Need to Know

  • Results: Results will become available as they are received.  Results can only be uploaded between the start and end times for the quest.  Results may vary.  We want to try new things so we're going to start with a performance score.  This utilizes a unique algorithm that combines aspects of age grading to allow men and women of all ages to compete against each other.  You'll still be able to sort by time, but we think the performance score is pretty cool.
  • Eligibility to Win:
    • You must submit a run result. Acceptable submissions include uploads from Garmin or valid GPX files.  You can also submit manual results but these are a little less cool. 
    • Treasure quests will have general clues and location clues.  Location clues will be related to the real world, and require that you be where the answer is found.

Additional Points to Keep in Mind:

  • Our system might not be foolproof. We trust our participants not to exploit any loopholes. However, if you emerge as a winner, we may ask to review other runs for verification purposes.
  • It's essential to approach this with a sporting spirit. While we aim for accuracy, errors may occur given the unpredictability of GPS and other factors. For those familiar with Strava segments, we all know that mishaps can happen (like forgetting to switch the tracker mode). Let's maintain an understanding and calm demeanor throughout.

Remember, this is all in good fun with a pinch of competition. Enjoy the quest!

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