Disclaimer: I am reviewing Athlinks as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review or find race reviews.

After posting tips for getting out of a funk yesterday, I realized that one thing that can help with motivation is data! Yes, one of my tips talked about ditching the tech altogether and I truly believe that running for the hell of it with zero goals in mind is cathartic and a great way to get back to a motivated starting point. However, once there, I live by the life motto of “Keep Moving Forward.” Considering I’m at an analytics conference in Denver right now, it should be no surprise that I’m highly motivated by data. One of the best places to easily track race results, engage with friends running the same events, and set goals and challenges, is Athlinks! For 2018, BibRave has teamed up with Athlinks as a way to connect your race resume (Athlinks) with your race reviews (BibRave).

Athlinks is a one-top-shop for tracking your official race results, set goals for upcoming race, and see how you compare to your friends and “rivals” (which, of course, are sometimes the same people!). Athlinks is free to sign up and just requires an email, name, birthday, and location. These elements allow Athlinks to find all your unclaimed race results! Once your results are populated you can confirm which results are actually yours (there’s several people with my same name and similar age so I often see results that aren’t mine) and your stats populate automatically!

I’m more excited than I should be about being slightly above average, lol. 

Every time I log on,  there will be a notification if there’s unclaimed results I need to review. Claim those results and watch your stats automatically update. Up-to-date race stats are actually really handy for races with seeded corrals. I make use of the personal records feature when registering for races that require qualifying results for corral placement. This is especially key for the Peachtree Road Race each year, allowing me to typically earn a spot within the first 5 corrals, making for a much less crowded or hot race experience each year.

A newer feature, at least to me, is the race start list and goals. You can search for upcoming races in the app and add yourself to the start list. You can also publish a goal for the race. For me, I shouted my goal of finally going sub-5 marathon at the upcoming Vermont City Marathon. Athlinks and Vermont City Marathon both tweeted back at me their encouragement! Making a goal public makes for some damn good motivation to stay healthy and honest with my training for the next 7 weeks.

Finally, a feature I haven’t used a lot but I plan to utilize more in the future is the Discover tab to search for nearby events. I think this feature will come in handy for upcoming travel and finding events in new cities. Let me know if you used the discover feature or any other fun stats in Athlinks in unique ways. Until then, wish me luck on my sub-5 marathon journey!