Your pet may not admit it, but every year, animals get excited about the approach of World Animal Day on 4th October. If you notice your pup, kitty or turtle look especially adorable as October approaches, perhaps she knows you’re preparing to show your love for everything with wings, tails, paws and fur by undertaking a one-week-long virtual run to show that love.

Confused? Don’t be. Virtual runs are getting almost as popular as the real deal and you get to sleep in, eat up and otherwise indulge your inner sloth without impacting your success at the finish line. Flip a few calendar pages. Mark both 4th October and 11th October and then draw a long line connecting them. That’s your target. Run day or night to rack up kilometers. Post distances you run on the website and you’ve done your job.

About Run for Animals Challenge

When the clock hits midnight on 4th October, imagine yourself hearing a virtual whistle that signals the beginning of your event as you metaphorically turn into a roadrunner minus the “Beep beep” sound. You get 7 days to rack up footsteps or footfalls by walking and running while raising funds for critters who need help.

Staged annually in concert with World Animal Day, Run for Animals Challenge gives you a chance to raise awareness about all living creatures and speak up for those who have no voice with our actions.

How does it work? No brainer. You use your GPS-enabled running app or tracker to log whatever distance(s) you care to cover. It matters not whether you slide across Antarctica or slog across a sub-Saharan desert. The miles you rack up and download are your ticket to success.

Are you a turtle or a hare? The animals don’t care!

How to get in on the action? You roam over to Spacebib, check out the totally wild graphic of a dude outrunning an elephant, peruse the following run categories, figure out which best suits you and sign up:

• 5km Panda Race
• 10km Gorilla Race
• 21km Tiger Challenge
• 42km Elephant Challenge

Save money by signing up at the early bird fee deadline. If your bird is less than early, don’t wing out. You can still register at the regular rate before 1st October. By the way, this event doesn’t just showcase animals on Planet Earth. It also salutes people who devote their lives working to protect and care for them, so two-legged creatures benefit from your participation, too.

Beyond the race

Implicit within the movement that drives Run for the Animals Challenge is the overriding message that every effort a runner makes on behalf of animals counts in the long run.

Whether you give up eating meat for one day or every day, swear off clothing and shoes made from animal skins or furs or opt to make a more meaningful statement by advocating for animal-related causes, you’ll be a winner—just as long as you finish your run or walk and register your distances no later than 11 October 2018 at 23:59 GMT+8.

After signing up and picking a team, check out the World Animal Day website. You’ll not only feel connected to the rest of the world when you see similar events being staged around the globe but you’re going to get super ideas about how you can increase your involvement in animal rights causes, too.

Memorable Run For Animals Finisher's Medal

Rewards? Oh, yes!

Everyone signing up to compete will also be responsible for inspiring a donation by Spacebib: Meet your virtual race goal and Spacebib will donate S$1 to ACRES, a highly-regarded animal protection organisation that undertakes research projects on all aspects of animal-related issues and promotes activism and education.

In addition to knowing that your small effort can make a big difference in the welfare and survival of animals in southeast Asia and beyond, you’ll receive a limited edition finisher medal that tells the world that your commitment to animals goes above and beyond. Wear it. Display it. Look at it every time you need a reminder that we share this planet with many species and each of them deserves our respect and support!

What’s your “animal” running style? Are you a rocket-fast cheetah, a graceful butterfly or are you proud to say you’re a sloth who takes time to get where you’re going in a thoughtful, methodical way?

Runners represent the very best of all animal species and we need and treasure all of you!