Circumpolar Race Around the World - by Jody Zorsch

Last spring, I happened across a post from the infamous Lazarus Lake of the Barkley

Marathons fame. He was putting together a virtual race across the state of Tennessee. It was called the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee (GVRAT) You walk/run where you live and you had from May 1st to August 31st to complete the 635 miles, which averaged out to just over 5 miles a day. You many have seen an earlier article in the MCTA blog about my time participating in that event.

Which brings me to the title of this article. The GVRAT was so successful – over 20,000 people from across the globe participated – that Lazarus Lake and his team have started another adventure that I have signed up for. The Circumpolar Race Around the World (CRAW). Teams will race 30,167 miles through 12 regions of the world. It’s a team event, 10 members per team. I registered a team and my team includes myself, 3 other Morgan Countians, a friend from Middle Tennessee, family and friends in New York, Michigan, Indiana and California.

Since signing up I know of at least one other team that has been created from Morgan County. Members of that team are part of the Hike MoCo group. I’m glad to have another team from Morgan County on this adventure around the world. Several Morgan County Tourism Alliance (MCTA) members are participating in this event. There are 4 MCTA members on my team – HOW much farther?? My team is a multi-sport team – meaning that we run, walk, bike, kayak and participate in many other forms of exercise for our miles. The team that Hike MoCo has started also has several MCTA members on their team. Between the two teams there are 8 MCTA members participating to date, that I am aware of.

September 1st, we started the first region of our trip at the US-Mexico border and make our way through Central America finishing the region in Columbia. This section will see us log 2,491 miles. To date my team to date has completed 410 miles in 5 days. For each region we complete we earn a medal shaped in the form of that continent. In addition, being a multi-sport team, if we complete the event in 8 months, we earn a gold buckle, in 12 months we earn a silver buckle. The race website will give us information on each country we traverse. We will be able to participate in a fun event with friends near and far and learn about the area we’re virtually traveling through at the same time. As I write this there are currently 632 teams registered so far and people/teams are still signing up. Teams can be either multi-sport like mine or a running/walking team. Stay tuned I will write updates as we make our journey around the world.

If you’re reading this and have created a team locally let me know. It would be fun for all our teams to keep in touch with each other during this event and cheer each other on. I can be reached at: jzorsch@highland.net

To learn more about the CRAW visit: https://www.craw.racing/