Challenges: FAQ

After running 4 challenges in the past 9 months there are a lot of common questions that get asked about the Challenges, how they work and the forum in general.

Hopefully what you want to know is covered here, if not just ask a question in this thread and I, or one of the moderators will respond. (I did check with a couple of them before I posted this!)

The Challenge forum is a great opportunity for you to reach your personal goals.

It is here to allow for some friendly rivalry between BT members which can be one on one, male vs females, runners vs cyclists, state vs state or any other combination of people!

Yes! Just pick a goal and sign up.

Each time a new challenge is announced (often monthy) there is an announcement posted and stuck to the top of the challenge forum. Simply reply to that thread saying that you would like to join the challenge.

People are assigned at random based on the number of people who sign up. Generally the person running the challenge will try to honour any special requests made regarding teams. (this may not always be possible)

When making team requests try to remember that there is often over 100 people signed up for a monthly challenge which makes it a lot of work logistically for the person doing the team assignments.

No. Anyone on BT can set up and organise a challenge. The person running the challenge each month is just another member like YOU and they are doing this out of the love the sport/the site/because they want a challenge that month – a whole range of reasons. 

They have a full and busy life including family, training, work commitments etc so just like you they are short of time.

Because they are a person just like you, anyone who volunteers to run a challenge will occasionally make mistakes or may sometimes be a bit slow in responding to a query when life intervenes.

Please be patient with them, it is the generous nature of others that keep the challenges alive.

Usually the person running the challenge picks a sport or sports they want to focus on each month. They may even have a great idea for a challenge that they think will work and like to bring to BT.

If you have a great idea for a BT challenge why not set it up and organise it?

Challenges vary from month to month but generally someone will post a concept prior to the beginning of the month listing the challenge concept, the rules and asking people to sign up in the thread.

Generally the challenges are based on a specific sport (i.e cycling) or group of sports and you select your goal for that sport. The challenges are based on you achieving your own personal goal for that month so anyone can join from a newbie to a veteran.

Just before, or on the first of the month the organiser will post challenge teams. These may be at random or based on a theme such as states, gender, favourite football team – whatever the organiser came up with in their original challenge announcement.

Teams will get together in their own thread and get to know each other. It is a great opportunity to meet some new BTers so make sure you check in regularly.

Also don’t forget to check your team mates logs and inspire them… when you are struggling to meet your goal a bit of encouragement from your team mates can be just what is needed to get on with it!

Each team will generally nominate a team captain. The responsibility is generally to flag any issues with the challenge organiser (such as illness, injury or missing team members) and to lead the motivation for the teams.

Results for the challenge are generally collected weekly either on a spreadsheet filled in by each team leader, or on google spreadsheet (where you can login and update your own results)

Many challenges have a loosing penalty if your team does not achieve the highest percentage of goal. Check the challenge instructions on sign up to see if the challenge has a penalty (each challenge organiser has a different preference on penalties)

If after joining the challenge something happens like an injury then you need to decide what you would like to do.

For example if it was a running challenge and you developed an injury that allowed you to use the cross trainer or use water running you might decide to continue but using an alternative substitute.

If the injury will make you unable to do the sport safely then you may need to withdraw from the challenge. Let the challenge organiser and your team know so that they can remove you from the spreadsheets. (google spreadsheet)

Just because you are injured does not mean you have to leave your team altogether. Many people stay part of their team by acting as a ‘cheerleader’ to inspire their team, offer advice and encourage them to reach their goals.

Yes! It is highly unlikely anyone will disagree with you wanting to make the challenge more of a challenge!

If you are returning for an injury or new to the sport you may not know what a realistic goal would be for your month. If, as the month progresses, you find you need to increase your goal – Go for it!

This is a very individual thing and there are a few things to consider:

1)      Do you have a training plan or a coach? If you already have a plan set for the month then use the challenge to keep you on track by setting a goal equal to your plan

2)      What did you do last month? If you (for example) ran 50 miles last month… you could set a 10% increase and aim for 55 this month.

Just be careful , especially with running, and follow some common sense when setting challenge goals.

Ramping up your mileage in any sport to quickly can cause overuse injuries so don’t think you can go from running 10 miles one month to 100 miles the next month without issues! (especially if you haven’t run that kind of mileage in the past couple of months)

Yes! Just pick what you would like to be and post up a challenge announcements.

Feel free to 'borrow' challenge guidelines and information from previous challenges set up by other people to help you get started. (this includes spreadsheets, concepts – anything that you think will translate to your idea)

If you want some help or advice setting up your challenge talk to your friends on BT, people that have done challenges before or that have run challenges before. (If you don’t know who to contact PM me or one of the forum moderators)

Don’t feel like you have to cover off everything from the beginning. Unforeseen circumstances sometimes pop up (for example during one challenge there were major bush fires in California affecting many of the challenge participants due to evacuations, smoke and fire fighting duties).

When queries arise think them through and then get back to the person or team concerned.

Also, don’t feel like you have to run a challenge alone. If you want to team up with another BTer to run a challenge that can be great – sharing the workload makes the challenge process much less demanding, especially in the initial set up stages.

Taking on a challenge can be a lot of fun. It is motivational seeing so many people working together to reach their goals and the community atmosphere in the challenge forum is what keeps so many people coming back.

Only you can decide whether you have to time to run a challenge, but it is definitely a rewarding experience.

If you have any further Challenge Forum related questions, feel free to post them below.

Happy Training

Cat