News sponsored by Republic of Gamers ROG Zephyrus M16

When it comes to running, the mile holds a special place. It’s revered as a fast-paced distance that requires intense training to break the illusive four minutes over 1.6 km (achieved for the first time in 1954 by Roger Bannister).

As a way to build pace, mile-training can provide that extra kick to the finish line on the back of longer runs. But, as with many other things, the mile is easy to learn but difficult to master.

Need a bit of help? Enter Under Armour. The apparel company recently announced the launch of its popular Under Armour All Out Mile Campaign in South Africa.

UA will be challenging pro and novice runners across SA to go all out for 30 days to break their personal record over 1600 m and benchmark themselves against competitors from around the world and at the same time stand a chance to win a host of prizes.

Participating runners will set a benchmark time in August and then spend the month of September working to improve their time. UA will have a 30-day training programme to assist runners during September.

Once October arrives, runners can take on the All Out Mile as many times as they like, races will be tracked by the UAMapMyRun app or an alternative run device linking to FitRankings.com (Garmin, Suunto, Apple).

The prizes on offer, both local and international, are for personal glory as well as to charities chosen by the “Media Milers” who will soon unveil themselves to the SA audience. What’s great about bagging your Mile results is that you can compare with your running buddies and everyone else all over the world.

HOW IT WORKS

• Start by registering for the challenge on https://uaalloutmile.com/
• Then, track all of your runs by linking your UA MapMyRun account on FitRankings.
• Set your benchmark mile and train from August 30 to September 30.
• Take advantage of the weekly training plans and video tips directly from UA's professional athletes, coaches and Human Performance experts.
• During the UA All Out Mile competition period, go all out and crush your PR from October 1 through October 11.
•  After completing your UA All Out Mile (you can try more than once), your results will automatically be pulled from UA MapMyRun and appear on the FitRankings leader board.
• See how you stack up versus runners from around the world.

Visit https://uaalloutmile.com/ to register and see what you can do.

“We are thrilled to be bringing this fierce campaign to South Africa. SA plays host to some of the most popular running events in the world and we have an ardent running community here. The Under Armour ‘All Out Mile’ has been created to challenge runners and encourage them to reach their best. We are excited to see it all unfold over the next few weeks” says Lorrianne Cloete, Head of Marketing, at Under Armour SA.