Partner with Virtual Strides

Are you looking to host your own virtual run, either as a standalone event, or as an add-on to your already established race? If so, you’ve come to the right place! In addition to the monthly events we post on our Current and Upcoming Virtual Runs and Past Virtual Runs pages, your organization can now partner with Virtual Strides and have your event listed on our Partner Races page. We will help promote your event and will handle the entire registration process, bib creation and medal shipping for you. 

Our Services

• -Medal design and production
• -Event promotion
• -Registration and payment processing
• -Custom bib creation for participants
• -Results collection and posting on our website
• -Order fulfillment and delivery
• -Access to instant registration counts and downloadable participant data

Benefits

• -We do all the work for you
• -We pay all of the merchant account transaction fees, packaging and shipping expenses
• -Your organization receives a predetermined portion of each participant’s registration fee
• -Your race being listed on our site means free exposure to tens of thousands of virtual runners you wouldn’t ordinarily reach through your own marketing efforts
• -We can offer additional optional targeted advertising via our Facebook page and email list, depending on your marketing budget
• -You are welcome to work with the medal company of your choice, but know that we receive excellent pricing from our supplier due to the volume of medals we order every month. If you’d like to work with our supplier, we are happy to pass this savings on to you and assist with medal design for no additional charge.

The Process

The process for setting up your virtual race depends on whether your run is a new event or if it is an add-on to an already established physical race. Before reading any further, please understand that there is a financial risk in setting up a virtual race: Simply put, you need to earn enough revenue to cover the initial expense of the medals you order. This expense can vary greatly, depending on the size, design, and quantity of medals ordered, of course, but our advice to you this: If you don’t think you can get at least 100 people to register for your virtual run (not counting however many sign up because of our marketing efforts), it’s probably not worth the time and expense of setting it up. On the other hand, if you have a physical race that already offers finisher medals, you should definitely add a virtual option, because the incremental cost of ordering additional medals will be very small.

Here’s the basic process for working with us:

1. Decide if you want to design/order the medals for your race yourself or if you want us do this for you. It is very important that you plan this step well ahead of time, so there will be enough time to have your medals produced and delivered to us before the race period begins. You should begin this process no less than 60 days before the start of your event.
2. Fill out our Partner Event Information Sheet to give us all the specifics for your race, so we can set up your custom registration page.
3. Get the medals to us before your race period begins – the least expensive way is to have the manufacturer ship them directly to us.
4. Once your registration page is live on VirtualStrides.com, you can begin promoting your event. Add a link to the registration page on your website/paper entry form and spread the word however you can!
5. We will handle the rest. This includes collecting all of the registration info, creating custom bibs for your runners, inventory control, address verification, order fulfillment, and customer service.
6. At the end of the race period, we will send you the registration information from your race and your share of the revenue earned.

That’s all there is to it! If you’d like more information, please contact us and tell us about your race (or your idea for a race), and we will be happy to provide you with advice and a quote for our services. We charge a reasonable set-up fee and then withhold a portion of each registration to cover the transaction fees, shipping & handling, and so on.