How to use DistantRace

• Create an account
• Why can't children under 13 years old register?
• Challenges
• How to participate in a challenge?
• Why has my activity not been added in the challenge?
• How to withdraw from a challenge?
• How to Find a Challenge in the DistantRace App?
• Competitions
• How to participate in virtual competitions?

Create an account

To start using the system, you need to create an account on distantrace.com.

• Go to the distantrace.com homepage.
• Open the login page. Look for the "Log In" button located at the top corner of the page.
• If you don't have an account yet, open the "Registration" page.
• Provide the required information. You must provide an email address, a secure password, as well as your first name, last name, birth date, gender, and optionally - country and city. If you choose to use an external service (Facebook, Apple, Google) to log in, you will need to provide an email address.
• Agree to the terms of use. Read the terms of use and privacy policy and, if you agree, then check the box.
• Click "Register". After clicking the button, you will receive an email confirmation code.
• Confirm your email. Check your inbox - there should be an email with a confirmation code. Also check your spam folder.

It's important to use one account for both computer and phone to avoid creating multiple accounts where, for example, activities might arrive in one account but you are registered for competitions with another account.

Why can't children under 13 years old register?

Although GDPR allows registration on various platforms from the age of 16, member states can set a lower age limit, but not lower than 13 years old. In Latvia, this age is stipulated by Article 33 of the "Personal Data of Individuals Law", which states that the data of a child may not be processed without the permission of a parent or guardian.

To address this situation, on our platform, for children under 13 years old, parents or guardians can create a sub-account to mark which activity the child has performed.

Challenges

How to participate in a challenge?

Registering for challenges is a simple way to compete, maintain motivation, and achieve your set goals. Below is a step-by-step description of how to participate in challenges organized on the DistantRace platform.

1. Create a DistantRace User Account

Start by creating a DistantRace user account if you haven't done so already. This will give you the opportunity to participate in all virtual challenges hosted on the platform.

2. Install the DistantRace App

While it's not always mandatory to install our app, we recommend doing so. Install the app

3. Connect a Sports App

To record your activities or daily steps, you need to connect a sports app to your DistantRace account, such as Garmin, Fitbit, Suunto, or others supported applications. If using "Apple Health," "Google Fit," or "Health Connect" for daily step counting, then you'll need to install the DistantRace mobile app (step 2) to connect the respective service to your DistantRace account.

4. Find a Challenge

Look at all the available challenges in the DistantRace public competitions section and find the ones that suit you. If you want to join a private challenge, go to the link provided by the challenge organizer.

5. Register for the Challenge

Once you've found a challenge you want to join, familiarize yourself with all the available information - the rules of the challenge, tasks, permissible sports types, and the timing of the challenge. Find the "Register" button, press it, and fill out the registration form. Once done, you'll be registered for the challenge and can find yourself in the participant list.

6. Record Your Activities

Once registered, all that's left is the easiest part - start exercising and record your activities. Record activities with the service connected to your DistantRace account or carry out your daily activities by counting steps. All your activities and daily steps will be automatically synchronized with your DistantRace account.

7. Follow the Results

As soon as the data is synchronized, we will automatically process it and perform all the result calculations. Participants do not need to get involved in this process. All that remains is to keep track of how your and other participants' results change.

Why has my activity not been added in the challenge?

If you notice that one of your activities is not included in the challenge results, DistantRace provides an easy and quick way to identify the cause of this problem. Follow the steps described below to find out why your activity is not included in the challenge.

1. Open your activity list

Open your DistantRace profile view and find the link to your activity list there (or click here).

2. Find the activity in the list
Find the activity that has not been included in the virtual challenge you are participating in.

3. Open the activity

Click on the activity identifier (ID). Then you will go to the detailed view of the activity where you can see all the activity data.

4. Open challenges
At the top of the page, you will find the "Challenges" section. Click on it and you will see which challenges the activity is associated with.

5. Check the status of the activity
In the challenge section, you can see all the challenges that the activity is associated with and their status. If an activity is not included, the challenge card is colored red and a button "Why not included" appears next to it.

6. Reasons why the activity is not included

Click on the "Why not included" button and all the reasons why the activity is not included will be displayed. Most likely, the reason for non-inclusion is that the activity does not comply with the challenge rules defined by the organizer.

7. Contact the challenge organizer

If you think that the activity has not been included in the challenge due to an error, then contact the challenge organizer, arguing why the activity should be included. Each challenge organizer has the option to accept the specific activity in the challenge, and also to make changes to the activity results, if necessary.

By following these steps, you can easily understand why an activity is not included, and by contacting the organizer, change the activity status, thus ensuring that all results are calculated correctly and fairly.

How to withdraw from a challenge?

At the bottom of each challenge's homepage, there is a "Quit Challenge" button. Press it and confirm your choice to withdraw.

How to Find a Challenge in the DistantRace App?

In the DistantRace app, challenges can only be found if you have a challenge QR code or a challenge code.

1. Look for a blue button with a QR code icon at the bottom right corner of the app's home screen.
2. A screen will open where you can scan the challenge QR code. Scan it, and you'll be directed to the challenge registration screen.
3. If you don't want to or can't scan the QR code, for example, if the QR code is in your phone's web browser, tap "Enter code manually."
4. A screen will open where you can enter the challenge code. Enter it, and you'll be directed to the challenge registration screen.

Competitions

How to participate in virtual competitions?

To participate in the virtual competitions organized on the DistantRace platform, you only need to do 2 steps - apply for the competition and record your sports activity to get a result.

Application:

1. Create a DistantRace user account
   Start by creating a user account, if it's not done yet.

2. Connect the service you use to record activities
   In your profile view, go to the "Connections" section and connect one of the sports apps that you plan to use to record your sports activities.

3. Find the competition
   Go to the public competition page or use the link sent by the organizer.

4. Apply for the competition
   Open the specific competition and click the "Registration" button. Fill out the registration form with all the necessary information.

5. Confirmation and Payment
   Confirm the registration form. Most likely, participation in virtual competitions will be free. But if there is a participation fee for the competition, then you will have to fill in the payment details and make a payment for participation.

Recording activity:

1. Prepare your device
   Before starting the activity recording, make sure the device has access to the GPS signal. This will allow you to record location data (activity route), which is mandatory to participate in the competition.

2. Start the activity
   Start the recording and take the device with you during the activity. During the activity, try to achieve the best result possible.

3. Reaching the distance
   When the necessary competition distance is reached, you can finish the activity recording. But if you want to continue your activity, extending the distance or doing a cool-down, you can certainly do that. Your result will include the time it took you to reach the required distance. The time after reaching the distance will not be taken into account.

4. Result calculation
   When you save your activity, it will be synchronized with your DistantRace account. The result will be calculated from the beginning of the activity until the moment when the distance to which you have applied is reached. Any breaks, if used during the activity, are not subtracted from the result. Same as in a marathon - the result is calculated from start to finish.