Fergus Falls Runner Keeps Community Connected Through Virtual Races

Arne Robertson says with a lack of opportunity to race he decided to take a step in another direction

FERGUS FALLS, Minn. — COVID-19 has caused shutdowns of 5Ks, 10Ks, and marathons across the country.

Arne Robertson, a runner himself says with a lack of opportunity to race he decided to take a step in another director to keep the spirit going.

“Ya know I did a virtual race for one of my friends and I thought this might be a cool idea for everybody to do because a lot of our races are cancelled right now.”

That first run turned into a series of races going on all spring and summer that he started called the Arnecam Virtual Race Series.

Where people take photos of themselves running the virtual race and posting their times to win prizes while encouraging others to get outside.

“Thankfully our governors have allowed us to go out and exercise and I think this was really appreciated by people because right now this is all we got right now.”

He says this movement of runners is continuing to grow after every event and he hopes it can continue to grow and offer more people a safe way to race.

He’s also working with Fargo Marathon and trying to partner with other upcoming races, to offer things like free registration so when things are clear people can run.

“We will see where we are at, with COVID and just go from there, hopefully things will start to lift off and things will get back to normal but of course we don’t know when that’s going to be.”

He says although COVID-19 may leave the future of races in limbo, the best people can do is just take things one step at a time.

Link to sign-up for upcoming races