Winter Wishes

Obatron Productions' exercise arm, Obatron Fitness, is proud to introduce a new race series, Winter Wishes. Enter the whole series or choose individual races. Walker and mobility-impaired friendly. Diet sensitive. Virtual. Race indoors or out.

Distances Available

The series consists of six races, each of which is capped at 36 participants: 

Jan 8-10: 5K
Jan 22-24: 4 miles
Feb 5-7: 5K
Feb 19-21: 5 miles
Mar 5-7: 5K
Mar 19-21: 10K

You pick how many races you want to do: one, some, or all. You must sign up for the series and complete at least four of the races to be in the series standings and get associated series perks. 

Where You Can Get Your Miles

Wherever you want! Hit the road, traverse a trail, step up to a treadmill, or make endless loops throughout your home. Just be sure to record each activity so you can submit the time for each one.

When to Race and Entering Results

You can race on any day from 12 a.m. on the Friday of each race weekend through 11:59 p.m. on the Sunday of each race weekend.

Results must be submitted by 9 a.m. on the Monday following each race weekend. If you don't enter your race time on time, you won't be in the results for individual races or the series. No times will be accepted after cutoff. Simply go to the Results page and click on "Submit Virtual Results" for each race you entered.

Series Scoring

For those entering the series (all six races), your lowest two scores will be dropped (so if you have an unusually slow race or miss one  or two for some reason, you're not disqualified). If you choose to register for only four races, you will not be scored as part of the series, even though that's the number of races on which series participants will be scored. 

What You Get

Individual Races

• A pendant medal for each race completed. 
• Winter Wishes non-perishable race food for each race.
• Earned Extras: Opportunities to earn points that get you more swag and chances to receive premier prizes from sponsors, predominantly through the Obatron Fitness Facebook Group (Obatron Fitness Conversation Space); See Sponsors Prizes for Earned Extras below for more information.
  • a winter weather recipe contest with non-vegan and vegan categories with prizes for the winner in each category
  • digital scavenger hunt (trivia)
  • image scavenger hunt
  • multiple questions throughout the series
  • pre- and post-race activities
• Virtual bib for each race
• Digital finisher's certificate for each race
• Subsequent PDF of the race cookbook
• Chance to make a donation to our Charity Partners
• $10 gift card for Road iD (offered at registration; be sure to opt-in)
• PowerBar's PowerGel for each race while supplies last
• Facebook group (racers need not be registered for the whole series) to interact with fellow racers and their supporters as well as participate in challenges, ask questions, and get updates.

Series Participants

Series participants get even more! (Late entries into the series do not get pendant medals for races they did not complete and cannot go back to do Earned Extras Points Posts for races which have passed and did not complete.)

• Recovery and continuation kit (includes items such as RunGoo Blister Prevention Cream, EPSOAK sports salt, and Biofreeze)
• 100 points toward Earned Extras (completion at least four races required)
• Ranked in the series standings

Groups/Teams

• Discounted registration for groups 4+ (minimum of two people comprise a group; existing members are refunded when they hit 4+ and 8+, triggering lower pricing for subsequent members ($15 and $14.50, respectively for individual races and $73 and $70 respectively for the series); goes into effect after the special 21-hour pricing expires on 1/3)
• Team standings
• Small prize for team members with the most participation in Earned Extras Points Posts

Sponsor Prizes for Earned Extras Participants and Racer Raffle

Sponsor prizes include pack of gels from PowerBar while supplies last, spring training (1) and Spring Thaw (April 16-18) race entry (1) from Obatron Fitness (us!), Skin Care Kits by Rachel Bernardini of Perfectly Posh, and RunGoo by Foot Kinetics. 

Swag Details

Pendent Medals: Each race features a pendant medal: two kinds of snowflakes, a star, and three different icicles.

Race Food Kit: At registration, you'll have several choices about flavors, dietary specifications, and the like. One option is "None of these." If you choose that, you will not get any choices being offered. It makes for a slim kit. You could always give things away! If you don't choose anything, including "None of these," we will randomly pick things for you. You will get at least one item per race.

Packet Pick-up/Delivery/Shipping: You have three options: per race, per month, or save to the end. If you choose per race, local racers (within Monroe County, NY) can meet the race director the Wednesday or Sunday following race weekend to pick up in Greece; out-of-area racers' items will be mailed by the Thursday following race weekend. If you choose per month, local racers can meet the race director the Wednesday or Sunday following the month's second race to pick up; out-of-area racers' items will be mailed by the Thursday after the month's second race. If you choose save to the end, local racers can meet the race director the Wednesday or Sunday following the last race of the series to pick up; out-of-area racers' items will be mailed by the Thursday following the last race of the series. 

The race director may offer additional pick-up dates, but that is not a given. Anyone within Monroe County who cannot pick up their packets during any of the offered dates will get their packets delivered in person by arrangement after the group pick-ups have passed or mailed if pick-up is truly not feasible. Anyone outside Monroe County who can't make a pick-up will receive their packets by USPS as soon as they are packed after fulfillment in accordance with their selection.

Discount Offers & Referrals

Entering the series rather than individual races gets you a smaller per race entry fee than the sum of individual race fees, a lower RunSignUp fee than the sum of the fees when registering separately, and a series gift. The training offered through the series registration page is at a much reduced price including bonus workouts not normally offered with Obatron Fitness group training. If you are a member of any club with a presence on RunSignUp (ex. GRTC, Fleet Feet Race Team, Medved, or Obatron Fitness), you get a discount at checkout for that. Finally, if you join a group/team within this race at registration, you get partial refunds when you get to enough people (detailed earlier in this section). Additionally, you may earn back some of your registration by having other racers use your personal referral link, generated after you register. See the "Referrals" section for more information. While club and team discounts, coupons, and referrals rebates may be combined, there is a discount floor to ensure we are fiscally responsible with our pricing. For example, if you could get a total of $11 off a race that only costs $16 to begin with, you would pay $10, not $5.

Awards

No formal placement awards are planned for winners, but there will be acknowledgements for Top and Tenacious finishes for each race and the series. However, you are encouraged to enter your time to establish a race history, be able to create a finisher's certificate, and to embrace the fun of it. Besides, you never know what may happen as the series gets underway! (I've been known to surprise people.)

If there are three or more groups/teams formed, there will be a small bonus prize for members of the most active group in the Earned Extras challenges. If there are five or more, there would also be acknowledgement of the Top and Tenacious Team finishes.

There will be race pendant medals, goodies, recipe contest winner kits, and Earned Extras. Plus, the more sponsors and participants we get, the more goodies we can put in your packet.

Sponsors

As our sponsors come on board and provide logos, a full list will be available on our sponsors page. If you know someone who you think would be a good sponsor, let them know to contact the race director at vickey@obatron.com. Sponsors provide discounts, prizes, or both and make their clients aware of the series in exchange for advertising and an optional discount for their clients.

We have PowerBar, Foot Kinetics, and Perfectly Posh by Rachel Berardini.

Additional Details

Series Conversion for Individual Races

On or near 1/6/2021, all series racers will be "transferred" to all six individual races. At that time, your bibs will be automatically assigned for each of the races.

Changes and Updates

I will post additional details as they are finalized. Any changes will be updated here, on the Obatron Fitness Facebook page, in our Facebook group, and communicated through RunSignUp messaging.

Gender Designations

We recognize there are those who would rather not pick male or female when asked to choose. Unfortunately, we've not seen a way to provide other options within that field's parameters. As such, we ask your understanding that we are limited by the nature of registration tools and finite resources rather than disregarding anyone's preferences in how they are addressed or define themselves.