She Runs by the Seashore

If you’ve seen my silly TikTok videos, you can thank BibRave for that.

TikTok challenges were just one component of the BibRave Virtual Summit that took place June 13-14. BibRave encouraged us to give the app a try in late May, and I’ve had some fun with it.

BibRave Pros, like me, and Team BibRave were originally supposed to meet up at the Yuengling Shamrock Marathon Weekend in March. BibRave is based in Portland, Oregon, and has Pros across the country and beyond, so I was especially pumped that the group was meeting in Virginia Beach, which is only about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from my house.

The threat of COVID-19 led to the cancellation of the in-person race weekend (it went on as a virtual event) and summit. Even though I would have loved to have been able to get together with everyone in person (only if it were safe, which I don’t think it is right now), I’m glad we were able to connect virtually.

Before the summit began, each BibRave Pro got a package of swag. Mine included a BibRave T-shirt and fanny pack, Knockaround sunglasses with a fun peacock design, and an orange pom pom, cowbell, stickers and temporary tattoos.

The summit activities kicked off with a five-mile scavenger hunt. We used the Hollarhype app to get clues, although I had them before I started my run from the Slack platform we use to communicate, as the app was not working for everyone. With Hollarhype, other BibRave Pros could also chime in with messages, and I heard from two friends, which was fun.

We had to find something unique from our town, and I chose a City of Salisbury pride flag that says “We are all equal here,” as BibRave is a supporter of equal rights and I thought it fit in with the BibRave community. I kind of laid down on the ground a bit to get photo with what looked like Black-eyed Susans, Maryland’s state flower, for the flower we had to find.

I got a photo of an orange bucket truck for something in BibRave orange, and a City Park sign for a sign that speaks to me as a runner, since that’s our normal summer Eastern Shore Running Club group run location.

I cut it too close for my run in the heat, getting back after 11 a.m. Eastern Time and arriving a little late to the post-run “Brunch” and Happy Hour.

We were all in one large group on Zoom, and then we were able to split out into breakout rooms. This was a feature I’d never used before on Zoom, and I thought it was pretty cool.

I think my favorite part of the summit was the small breakout rooms where we got to interact directly with our fellow BibRave Pros. In the first session, we talked about our favorite races, and in the second one (with different people), we talked about our hobbies outside of running.

After a short break, it was time to connect with BibRave co-founders Tim and Jess for an Ask Me Anything session. Of course, I had to ask about what they had for breakfast, since that’s a standard question on the podcast.

A TikTok tutorial followed that. I’d already been playing around with the app — and watching it too much — so I was familiar with some trends. I created two BibRave-related TikTok videos during the summit weekend.

On the Sunday of the summit, we had two live sessions — Social Media Best Practices and a send-off, in which scavenger hunt and TikTok winners were named and BibRave Pros who had reached five years as a Pro were recognized.

There were also two sessions to watch on our own time, a nutrition one with Stephanie Howe and a mental mindset one with Dr. Justin Ross.

This weekend was a fun combo of connecting with the BibRave community and learning. I hope to make it to the next BibRave summit, whether it’s in-person (in the future) or virtual!

Also in BibRave news: The BibRave 100 is open for nominations! Anyone can nominate their favorite races in various categories! Make your nominations here.