Rowing Holiday Challenge

Looking for a little extra motivation to row or ski this holiday season? Then look no further! Our Holiday Challenge is for you!

The Details

• Row or ski* 100,000 meters or 200,000 meters between November 26 (U.S. Thanksgiving) and midnight December 24
• You do not need to be on a team to participate! Log your individual meters.
• Record indoor rower and SkiErg meters only (no on-water or on-snow meters, please!)
• Kid's Holiday Challenge allows kids (aged 16 and under) to participate at 50,000 meters
Adaptive athletes canchoose to participate at the 50K, 100K, or 200K levels
• Deadline for entering meters: January 4th, 2010

*Note: New this year! Meters accumulated on the new Concept2 SkiErg may be counted either separately or in combination with rowing meters toward either challenge goal.

Support a Good Cause with Your Meters

Besides helping you maintain your fitness and fend off holiday weight gain and stress, we’re giving you the option of supporting organizations whose mission it is to make sure that no one goes hungry and our food supply is sustainable. Consider it a holiday gift. For every person who rows or skis at least 100k during the challenge, Concept2 will donate $.02 per kilometer (1000 meters) to your choice of the following organizations: Oxfam International, Slow Food USA, Feeding America or The Center for an Agricultural Economy. And once you get beyond 100k, we’ll donate $.04 per kilometer. Our goal through this group effort is to raise a total of $30,000 to support these causes. The usual prizes of a pin and certificate will still be awarded. Note: For kids and adaptive participants, the $.04 rate will take effect at 50k.

In recent years, we have had around 5000 people participate in the Holiday Challenge! We are hoping that this incentive will bring in even more people and encourage past participants to row/ski more meters than ever to help us reach our goal. Please invite your friends to join us. Our strength is in our numbers. It’s like rowing an eight: when you all work together in synchrony, you become greater than the sum of the parts.

Stay tuned to your online logbook for how to select your organization for this year's Holiday Challenge.

How to Participate

1. You must have an Online Logbook at concept2.com (it's FREE!) and all of your meters must be entered into your Online Logbook. If you don't already have one, visit the Online Logbook home page, click Register under New User and follow the directions. Kids Challenge participants need to set up an individual logbook (using a parent's email address is fine).
2. Under the Profile tab, enter your current mailing address
3. After you row/ski, record your meters in your Online Logbook. The Online Logbook automatically calculates your meters during the Challenges.
4. Visit the Challenges tab in your Online Logbook. When you've reached your goal, the Challenges tab of the Online Logbook automatically recognizes your achievement and displays instructions for claiming your rewards.

Don't have a Concept2 Indoor Rower? That's OK! Visit our Indoor Rower Finder page to find a location near you with one of our machines.

Incentives & Rewards

The incentives and rewards available depend on which goal you achieve. Here's how it works.

200K, 50K Kids, and Adaptive

Participants who complete 200,000 meters, kids who complete 50,000 meters, and adaptive athletes who complete at least 50,000 meters are entitled to the following incentives and rewards:

• A free downloadable certificate of achievement
• A free downloadable heat transfer for making your own Holiday Challenge-wear
• A free Holiday Challenge pin
  • Pins are sent automatically to the address on file in your Personal Logbook Profile. Please ensure you have entered a valid address in order to receive your pin.
• Access to the Holiday Challenge shop through our online vendor

100K Finishers

Participants who complete 100,000 meters are entitled to the following incentives and rewards:

• A free downloadable certificate of achievement
• A free downloadable heat transfer for making your own Holiday Challenge-wear

Preparing for the Holiday Challenge

If completing 200,000 meters in a month is a new challenge for you, here are a few ideas to help prepare before the challenge begins:

• If you haven't tried it before, don't be intimidated! Each year we hear from folks who have never completed any long distances before and have completed the challenge.
• Gradually build your workout time. Try adding an extra 1000 meters per day, especially if you don't usually complete 7000 meters at a time.
• If you don't usually workout every day, try rowing/skiing for several days in a row. The workouts can be short, but see how it feels to row/ski more often.
• Be sure to keep some stretching in your routine or add it if you haven't been doing it regularly. See our recommended stretches.
• Think about when you will fit your extra Holiday Challenge rowing/skiing into your schedule. If it requires that you workout at a different time of day, you should try it out ahead of time. For example, if you don't usually workout first thing in the morning, keep in mind that it may take you longer to warm up at that time of day, and you should not expect to be able to row/ski as hard and as fast as usual right away.
• Will you miss any workouts due to travel or other commitments? If so, plan ahead, so that you can make up the missed meters. For example, you may want to row/ski twice a day on some of the weekends.
• Be sensible! Many people have commented that the Holiday Challenge pushed them to row/ski more than they ever thought they could, and it felt great! On the other hand, it is not wise to make a sudden jump in rowing/skiing time and distance so keep this in mind. You can build your daily meters gradually, even during the Challenge itself.