Spark Exploration Challenges

12/29/2021

Spark Fitness Challenge participants,

Thank you so much for your participation in the Spark Fitness challenge and for the feedback you shared over the last 24 months. It’s been fun getting to know you, seeing how the fitness challenge helped you move toward your fitness goals, and hearing your candid feedback and suggestions.

We've made the difficult decision to discontinue the Spark Fitness challenge as of January 1st, 2022.

Why? It was good, but not great. And if we can’t be great at it, we shouldn’t be doing it.

Most weeks had just 5-10 active participants. We hoped to offer a fitness program that would be significantly more effective than other programs/apps, but with such low participation, it became clear that we weren’t addressing the need significantly better than others.

WHAT ABOUT THE MEMBERSHIP I PAID FOR?
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If you were paying month-to-month, we’ve turned off auto-renew so you won’t be charged again. If you were charged in the month of December, you’ll receive a refund for that payment.

If you prepaid for a 1-year or 3-year membership, we’ve already begun the process of issuing prorated refunds.

We’re told that refunds can take 6-10 days to appear in your bank account. If that amount of time passes and you still haven’t seen your refund come through, please contact me and I’ll check the status for you.

In addition, we’d like to offer you $50 towards a cumulative distance challenge registration of your choice as a way of saying thanks for your participation and feedback. Check your email for details.

CAN I STILL EARN & CLAIM REWARDS?
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All current tasks will close after Dec. 31st and no more points will be earned. Any accumulated point balances can be used to claim rewards through Jan. 31st.

WHAT SHOULD I DO INSTEAD?
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Our core belief is that, in order for a fitness habit to stick, it must be fun. And over the past 9 years, our virtual races and cumulative distance challenges have proven to be both popular and effective at helping people stay active.

Please accept a coupon for $50 off one of our cumulative distance challenges (See above for coupon code and details). We think you’ll really enjoy some of the themed fitness events currently available. We don’t have specific recommendations for alternative apps/services.

WHAT ABOUT OTHER CHALLENGES I'VE BEEN DOING IN THE SPARK APP?
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The Spark Challenges app itself is not going away, only the fitness challenge. You can continue to use the app for other challenges.

In a couple of months the app will be updated to become the Neocaching app and will focus on location-based exploration challenges.

WHAT'S NEXT?
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Going forward, we're going to double-down on our virtual races and cumulative distance challenges(https://www.virtualrunningclub.com/mileage-challenges/). (We’ve also got some other fitness projects up our sleeve that we think you’re really going to like. If you’d like early access to those, let us know in the comments.)

It was fun while it lasted.

Stay active,
Ryan Jenkins

Our cumulative mileage challenges are designed to help you go further and keep you on track to reach your fitness goals. From 100 miles to 2,022 miles, their is something for every person at any fitness level.

03/29/2021

Spark App Update!

We pushed out an update to Spark this morning. You won't notice new functionality in this update, but we've fixed some bugs and polished it up a bit.

Please let me know in the comments if you run into any bugs or weirdness OR if there are features that you think should be added.

- Ryan

02/15/2021

Guess who's hiring...
We Are!

02/10/2021

We just pushed an App Update!
(details below)

01/08/2021

Here's a little running tip. Many people believe that they should be panting when they run but this isn't the case.

If you can't carry on a very casual conversation with someone, you might be pushing a bit too hard. Slow hard and focus on maintaining a steady sustainable pace.

01/01/2021

Spend less time thinking about the goals you want to accomplish in 2021, and more time thinking about the habits you want to develop.

01/01/2021

As you finalize your goals for 2021 consider this... "outcome oriented" goals don't work!

Why not?

Outcome-oriented goals put you in a state of constant failure from the start.

Jan 1: Have you lost 30 pounds yet? No? Fail.
Jan 2: Have you lost 30 pounds yet? No? You're still failing.
Jan 3: Have you lost 30 pounds yet? WHAT'S TAKING SO LONG?!

It's no surprise that 50-80% of people give up on their goals by February. Who can endure that constant emotional abuse?!

What works then? Identity-oriented goals.

Instead of saying "I want to lose 30 pounds" you should say, "I want to become the kind of person who takes care of their body".

Why does this work?

Because you can win from the start!

Jan 1: Did you do something for your body today? Yeah I went for a run. WIN!
Jan 2: Did you do something for your body today? Yeah I skipped dessert. WIN!!
Jan 3: Did you do something for your body today? Yeah I meditated. WIIIN!!!

By February you won't have failed 31 times. You'll have won 15, 20, maybe even 31 times!!

This is the kind of success that leads to momentum. And momentum leads to consistency. And consistency is the #1 thing you need to achieve your vision.

So go rewrite your goals and give yourself the very best chance of success.

Hey friends! How are your 2019 goals coming along?

12/30/2020

What do you want to accomplish in 2021?

12/29/2020

A life filled with adventure is a life well-lived.

12/28/2020

If you're sitting at a desk for a significant part of the day, it's ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL that you're getting up and doing something active every day.

We know that spending hour after hour sitting down isn't good for us, but just how much exercise is needed to counteract the negative health impact of a day at a desk? A new study suggests about 30-40 minutes per day of building up a sweat should do

12/21/2020

🎉 TWO BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS! 🎉

1️⃣ We've launched the Zion Explorer Club challenge in the Spark app. This is the 1st in a series of National Park Explorer Club challenges that we're building! This challenge will help you REALLY discover the best parts of Zion NP and the surrounding area. (This may become a paid challenge in the future so join now!)

2️⃣ We're working on a "Visit All the National Parks" challenge so you can keep track of which parks you've visited and which you've yet to discover. Keep your eyes peeled for that one.

What do you think of this new challenge? What other parks do you want to see?

Don't have Spark installed? Grab the download link at www.SparkChallenges.app

12/14/2020

“According to research [...] the people you habitually associate with determine as much as 95% of your success or failure in life.” –Darren Hardy, The Compound Effect

If you want to develop a healthier, more active lifestyle, you need to associate with healthy active people.

Join the always-encouraging Team Spark community - facebook.com/groups/SparkVRC