Kelly I was recently telling a colleague about the Hedgehog Hustle and how its a “progressive” half marathon, marathon or 50 miler. He immediately thought I was talking about politics — that the event was in support of “progressive” causes. He was pretty surprised to learn that progressive referred to how the race was run.
So what is a progressive race? It’s a race where you complete pieces of the distance over the course of several weeks rather than all at once (think of it similar to a progressive dinner where successive courses are prepared and eaten at the residences of different hosts). Instead of appetizers, salad, main course and desert at different homes, with a progressive race its chunks of mileage on different dates.
For the Hedgehog Hustle here’s how the options pan out:
The Hoglet (Progressive Half Marathon):
- October 1st – 13th – 5K (3.1 Miles)
- October 14th – 27th – 6K (3.73 Miles)
- October 28th – November 11th – 5K (3.1 Miles)
- November 12th – 25th – 5K (3.1 Miles)
- TOTAL DISTANCE = 13.03 miles
The Hedgehog (Progressive Marathon):
- October 1st – 13th – 5K (3.1 Miles)
- October 14th – 27th – 6K (3.73 Miles)
- October 28th – November 11th – 10K (6.2 Miles)
- November 12th – 25th – Half Marathon (13.1 Miles)
- TOTAL DISTANCE = 26.13 miles
The Boss Hogg (Progressive 50 Miler):
- October 1st – 13th – 10K (6.2 Miles)
- October 14th – 27th – Half Marathon (13.1 Miles)
- October 28th – November 11th – Half Marathon (13.1 Miles)
- November 12th – 25th – 17.6 Miles
- TOTAL DISTANCE = 50 miles
For each two week period you pick a course, or use a treadmill, and run the required distance. Once you run the distance you upload your results (both a time and a file to support that time) through RunSignUp. RunSignUp has done an amazing job supporting virtual events since COVID-19 hit in March.
After the times are entered for each segment, we compile the results for that segment and the total time. At the end of the race runners will have a time for either a half marathon, marathon or 50 miler and we will publish final results and announce the winners.
By having three distances there’s something for everyone. Personally my goal is to run the Hedgehog Marathon with Ivy (preferably in a stroller but we’ll see how much she wants to run on her own as well). I can’t wait to see how our stroller pushing time stacks up.
