Great American 5000
A Virtual Race Across the USA!
What started in 2020 as a way to bring runners together has become a can’t-miss virtual adventure! The Great American 5000 is a team challenge covering 5,000 kilometers (3,107 miles)—from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Empire State Building. Whether you’re running, walking, or just in it for the bragging rights, this event is all about friendly competition, team spirit, and an amazing active community. Log your miles, track your team’s progress, and see how you stack up on the leaderboard. Gather your team and hit the road—virtually!
Key Event details
How it works
Form a team of up to 24 members and tackle the miles together! Each day, log your progress and watch your team’s dot move across the map in real time. Keep an eye on the leaderboard to track your standings, and enjoy fun facts and highlights about the places you pass along the way!
Your team has until September 13 to complete the journey—that’s as few as 33.7 miles per day for your team (1.4 for each individual)! Run, walk, hike—it can all count towards your team’s mileage.
What’s included
Opportunity to earn Virtual Badges
Event Shirt & Finisher Medal
Pre-mapped 5,000k course across the country
Leaderboard and Online Map with real time standings
Virtual travel experience provided through fun facts and photos of things you would see along the route
Exclusive access to the Great American 5000 Facebook Group
The Route
The Great American 5000 begins at the Golden Gate Bridge on the West Coast in San Francisco and traverses 12 states on its 3,107-mile trek across the U.S., ending on the East Coast just past the Empire State Building in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Along the way, you’ll pass man made structures like “The Bean” (Cloud Gate) in Chicago, run through national parks and more state parks than we can count, and see roadside attractions and oddities that are pure Americana!
Throughout your team’s journey, our group of experienced race organizers will be with you every step of the way! We’ll set up ways for you to stay connected with your team and highlight noteworthy portions of the virtual route you are completing.
Event Charity: Sports Backers
Our mission is to inspire you to live an active lifestyle. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Sports Backers today! Your support allows us to: Advocate for safe and accessible bike and pedestrian infrastructure, offer free fitness classes, support running & fitness clubs at area schools, and develop fun, new participatory events for our entire community.
Regular physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for your health. With your support, we can make this region a more vibrant place to live where safe opportunities to walk, run, bike, or workout abound and where access to these activities are available to all – regardless of age or income level. Thank you for considering an investment in our region’s future!
Tracking
You should track your run using one of the many GPS-enabled tracking systems (e.g., Strava, Map My Run, Garmin, Wahoo, etc.). From there you will self-report the time and distance of your run based on your GPS tracking, which will update the leaderboard and move your team’s dot across the course map. Entries without GPS will be permitted but are not encouraged for the sake of running validation. If you are in the running to be in the top 10 in your division, you should be prepared to validate your mileage.
Pro Tip: When you click on “Log Activities” bookmark that page to easily return and log your daily mileage.
FAQs
Questions? We’ve got answers! Check out our FAQs for everything you need to know about the Great American 5000, from course highlights to team divisions, and more.
HOw does the Great American 5000 work?
Teams of up to 12 or 24 people will join together to virtually run 5,000k across the country on a pre-determined course from San Francisco to New York. Track your run on one of the many GPS tracking systems, log your distance and watch your team’s dot move across the map. A leaderboard will also track your progress against other teams.
How do I register/Join a team?
You will register as an individual. You should assign one Team Captain to set-up your team and share the name for others to join. You will also be able to search for a team during registration and choose to join a team then. For more information, visit our Team Captain Info page.