Adding Milestones

Overview

Milestones are markers along your virtual route that celebrate participant progress. When a racer's accumulated miles reach a milestone, they receive a notification and an award — keeping motivation high throughout the race.

Racery supports both automatic milestones at standard distances and custom milestones that you place at specific points along the route.

Automatic Milestones

Racery automatically awards milestones at classic running distances:

These milestones are built into every race and require no setup. Participants earn a digital milestone sticker when they reach each distance.

Custom Milestones

You can add custom milestones at specific points along the route to mark meaningful locations or distances:

• Location-based: Place a milestone at a notable waypoint (e.g., "Welcome to Paris!" at the Eiffel Tower)
• Distance-based: Set milestones at round numbers (every 50 miles, every 100 km)
• Theme-based: Mark milestones that tie into your event's narrative (e.g., each leg of a charity journey)

Each custom milestone can include a custom message and, optionally, a custom award image.

Milestone Awards

When a participant reaches a milestone, they receive:

• Notification: An email or push notification announcing the milestone
• Digital badge: A milestone sticker added to their profile and race bio
• Activity feed shoutout: The milestone appears in the race's activity feed for all participants to see

Milestone awards are separate from challenge awards (streak badges and quiz badges). A participant can earn both milestone stickers and challenge badges during the same race.

Pin Drops & Postcards

Pin drops are visual markers placed at specific locations along the route. When a participant's avatar reaches a pin drop, they receive a virtual postcard.

• Pin drops: Mark interesting stops on the route with a photo and short description
• Postcards: A digital souvenir featuring the location's photo, the participant's name, and the race title

Postcards are shareable on social media, giving participants a tangible keepsake from their virtual journey and extending the race's visibility.

Time Tracking

Every milestone records when each participant reaches it. This creates a timeline of progress that:

• Lets participants compare their pace with teammates
• Gives organizers insight into participation patterns
• Adds a competitive element beyond just total miles

Motivation & Engagement

Milestones are one of the strongest motivational tools in a virtual race:

• Progress visibility: Milestones break a long route into achievable segments, making the overall distance less intimidating
• Social recognition: Milestone notifications in the activity feed give participants public recognition for their effort
• Collection drive: Earning milestone stickers creates a "collect them all" dynamic that keeps participants logging activities
• Mid-race energy: Well-placed milestones prevent the mid-race slump by giving participants something to aim for every few days

Next Steps