I’m running the Royal Parks virtual half marathon – here’s why you should too

Fitbit has teamed up with the Royal Parks Half Marathon to give everyone the chance to win some great prizes whilst getting fit in the lead up to the famous London half marathon.

Since 2008, more than 16,000 people each year have run the 13.1 miles of the Royal Parks Half Marathon. Yet it can be pretty tough to get a non-charity place, with a similar ballot system to the London Marathon. Little wonder it’s so popular, taking in some of London’s most iconic Royal Parks, including Hyde Park, Green Park, St James’ Park and Kensington Gardens.

But never fear if you haven’t managed to nail down a place at the Royal Parks Half – or even if you were actually lucky enough to get a slot – as Fitbit has teamed up with the event organiser to create its own Royal Parks Half Virtual Challenge with some fantastic prizes.

Between September 11 and October 8, the challenge sees you trying to accumulate 13 miles within a week (so just a smidgen easier than the actual Royal Parks). That boils down to just 26,000 steps in a week. For every week you manage to hit this goal, you’ll be entered into a competition to win one of five prizes, so you might get rewarded with more than just improved health.

Related: Best Fitbit

You don’t even need to own a Fitbit device to enter, you can simply use your smartphone and the Fitbit app to tally up all of your steps and exercise. Prizes include goodies from Fitbit, Lululemon, PureGym and Adidas.

Oh, and Week 4 could be the one to aim for as you could win one of the new Fitbit Ionic fitness smartwatches.

I’ll be running the actual Royal Parks Half, but also getting in at least 13 miles a week in the build up to the big day with its virtual counterpart.

To get involved, simply head over to the Fitbit Virtual Half Marathon Challenge website to sign up.

Are you going to get involved in the Fitbit Virtual Half Marathon? Let us know on Twitter @TrustedReviews.