During the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic, Fort HealthCare still wanted to offer the community heart-healthy activities that could be done safely with the entire family, with physical distancing in place.
During the summer of 2020, the Summer Virtual 5k Run Series was implemented. This free series included four different “races” that were held one time per month between June and September. Participants completed a “virtual 5k”—meaning, they walked or ran 3.1 miles on a course that they chose or completed by treadmill. Once completed, they submitted their time to Fort HealthCare wellness staff and were put on a virtual leaderboard that tracked their overall place compared to all participants. 
The summer series started as a single virtual 5k event over Memorial Day weekend. After over 100 participants registered and completed the race, the momentum and success of the event convinced Fort HealthCare’s Community Health and Wellness Team to create an entire series of races throughout the summer. 
Staff noticed that as completion emails came through, it became apparent that the event was also giving people important motivation and encouragement toward living healthier lifestyles overall, and in some cases, even courage, to step outside of their comfort zone and so something they’ve never tried before.
The final completion numbers for each race were as follows:

• June: 138 race completions
• July: 128 race completions
• August: 124 race completions
• September: 113 race completions

A total of 503 individuals completed a virtual 5k over the course of the summer series. In addition to the individual event completions, there were 98 participants that completed all four races.