Finding Your Perfect Race with a Comprehensive Directory: Ahotu
Feb 23, 2024Season 7Episode 7
Sherry
Hey Running Friends!
Ever find yourself Googling 'races near me' only to find unorganized chaos? Fret not! In our latest episode, we're unwrapping a gem of a website called Ahotu.com, a one-stop directory for runners, cyclists, triathletes, and adventurers galore.
If you are looking for a coach to help you reach your running goals, even if it's just to start to run, take a look at my Coaching Services page on the website. I do virtual, in-person (Buffalo, NY area) and also offer single zoom sessions for those would just like to chat with a coach one time.
Ever find yourself Googling 'races near me' only to find unorganized chaos? Fret not! In our latest episode, we're unwrapping a gem of a website called Ahotu.com, a one-stop directory for runners, cyclists, triathletes, and adventurers galore.
If you are looking for a coach to help you reach your running goals, even if it's just to start to run, take a look at my Coaching Services page on the website. I do virtual, in-person (Buffalo, NY area) and also offer single zoom sessions for those would just like to chat with a coach one time.
If you have any running-related questions, please send an email to sherry@wrinkledrunner.com…I answer every one.
Speaker 1:
Today's episode is going to be fairly quick. I am getting ready to go on a trip and I just got back from another one last night, so I'm kind of rushing to get out the door. But I wanted to tell you about a website called Ahoto I think, not sure about the pronunciation A-H-O-T-U dot com and this website gives you globally all the different races that you can possibly want to do for running, cycling, triathlon. They even have a more sports tab, so if running is just one of the things that you do, you can find dog run, duatholons, biking and running, cross-country skiing, obstacle race, orienteering there's a whole bunch of different races that you can find and sign up for. Now, the reason I found this is when you have a Garmin watch, you have your own Garmin Connect website, which is a little bit different than the app, and it gives you a lot more information and gathers a lot more data that you can see a bigger picture for your running. So if you have a Garmin watch, you have this app and I will link you to an article that I did over on the website on how to find it and as I was exploring the app, I found that you can find races and this is the website that they refer to when they're talking about races that you can do. So I'm looking at it right now and I'm in the running section of this website. It's giving me the running event calendar for 2024 and 2025. And when you go to the homepage for the running events just looking at it quickly, for March, for example, which will be into in a few weeks, there are 2,090 events on the website for globally. What is going on and what you can do is you can race and figure it out by continent, by event, by distance, by destination. So there are all kinds of ways that you can filter this out to find a race that would be for you.
Speaker 1:
I'm looking at the Cairo Half Marathon right now and the garage sale indoor 5k and the Newport News. There's a JBLE Causeway 5k. Not sure what that is, but if you live in Newport News you probably know what the JBLE Causeway is. You can also find things by different filters, like you could find beer runs, beer miles, beer 5K, those kinds of things. The other cool thing about this is I'm just going to randomly pick the garage sale indoor 5K in North Canton, ohio, which is in the US. That is on March 1st 2024, if you're interested, and it gives a link on registering for the event. It tells you a little bit about the event and shows you where it is. The other cool thing about it is, when you scroll down, you can also find hotels. They also have verbal listings and you can pick. That tells you how far away from the race driving that this would be how much it costs. So it gives you a snapshot of all the different things that you may need to know for a race.
Speaker 1:
So if I pick the register, this will then take you to the actual website to register for this event and then you can see how much it is. This one is limited to 120 total runners. It actually starts at 630. The race is 20 laps and so wherever this is, it looks like it's on a track. Now, the other thing you can look at on a HOTU or A-H-O-T-U is on the sidebar. Instead of seeing all the races, you can also check out ones that are a HOTU races. They will then filter that out and then you can buy the race or buy your registration right from the website.
Speaker 1:
So I'm looking right now at the Cancun Half Marathon, which is on March 3rd, which is only $33 in US dollars and you can register for the event right from the A-H-O-T-U website. So there's lots of different things to play with with this website, and if you have been running long enough that you're interested in signing up for a race and you're not quite sure where to start in finding where races are, this would be a great place for you to look it up, see if you want to race locally where you are, if you'd like to go to, if you're going on vacation soon, where your destination is and be able to sign up for a race there. Just something to play with, something for your information. In case you're not aware of this website, and if you are interested in racing, then I suggest you just check it out and see what you can find for yourself.