by Andrew Burnett
Do you ever have those days where you know you need to run but you are not motivated to get it done? When you do get out to run, do you find yourself running the same routes again and again? Do you see the same old things on your runs? Since last August I feel like I am always motivated to run, I almost always run a new route, and I see new things all the time. What happened to me last August? I signed up for Wandrer (https://wandrer.earth/).
Wandrer is a website (sadly, not an app) that syncs with Strava and keeps track of the roads and trails that you have run in each town. The free version of the site will sync your last 50 Strava activities but for $30 a year you can sync all your historical data from Strava.
I once heard Caleb Kussmaul use the phrase “the gamification of running;” this is a great descriptor of what Wandrer offers. The site has a leaderboard (see Marlborough leaderboard image) for each town and it is a fun for me to work towards completing all of the roads and trails in a town. I do not want to discount those in our club that have already run many or all of the roads in a town without Wandrer (if you didn’t know, Gary Cattarin ran all of the roads in Marlborough a number of years ago and who knows how many roads Steve Jackson ran long before Wandrer and Strava even existed) but it is enjoyable for me to see my progress over time and see how other people I know, and don’t know, are doing in the same town. The paid version also gives you a few other gamification features like scoring points, earning achievements, and monthly/yearly challenges.
The map on the Wandrer website (see image of Wandrer Map) makes it easy to see the roads and trails you have completed. The paid version of Wandrer offers a Chrome Extension that puts an overlay on the Strava map so that you can create a new route while viewing the roads and trails that you still need to complete (see image of the Strava map).
I often create a route on the Strava map and then send it to my Garmin watch to guide me on my new route (Not sure how to send a route to your Garmin watch? See Beth Dougherty’s Tip Tuesday (https://highlandcitystriders.org/…/how-to-navigate…/).
One of the best parts of using Wandrer is that I am running roads and trails that I have never run before. I can’t tell you how many times in the last nine months that I have run down a road or trail and said something like “Wow, look at that house” or “I didn’t know there was a park here” or “this trail is really beautiful.” It moved me out of the running rut of traversing the same roads over and over again.
Lastly, I’m not much of a trail runner or biker but I like that Wandrer has options for these athletes. I know some of you enjoy trail running more than road running so the challenge of running all the trails in a town is an option with Wandrer. You do, however, need to run all trails AND roads to complete a town. If you are a biker, you can bike (not run) the roads and trails to complete a town. The site allows you to toggle between activities on foot and activities on a bike.
I hope you find Wandrer to be as enjoyable as I have found it to be. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. I’m looking forward to seeing your progress on the town leaderboards!!
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