Welles Crowther 5K To Be Held Over Wii Fit
CoronavirusServiceWTF October 16, 2020 The New England Classic
MARGOT CONNELL RECREATION COMPLEX — The Boston College Learning and Volunteer Service Center announced on Friday morning that the Welles Crowther Red Bandanna 5K, scheduled to begin on Saturday, will be conducted entirely over the motion-tracking video game “Wii Fit”, for the Nintendo Wii.
The VLC, which organizes the run, advised students to prepare for the lush terrain of Wuhu Island, rather than the concrete of Linden Lane and Commonwealth Ave
Many students who had been eager to run in-person were upset by the decision. “Look, I get into the best shape of my life for these races,” said senior Eric Walthauser, pausing to let out a frustrated grunt. “If people can’t see how toned my thighs look in my maroon Boston College running shorts, what’s the fucking point?”
Of course, not everyone was so devastated by the news that the run would be moving to an online platform. For instance, Jack Malley (MCAS ’22) was scheduled to run in the race, but expressed relief at the change of plans.
“My roommates signed me up for the run as a joke because I play XBox all the time, but karma’s a bitch,” Malley said.
In the wake of the announcement of the new format, there was some confusion as to the timing of the race, which is advertised to last from October 17 until October 30. While many participants assumed that they would only have to pick one slot in which to run during that window, a new FAQs section of the race website has removed any lingering doubts.
“All runners should plan to ‘run’ on Wii Fit for at least one hour every day for the duration of the competition,” because the exercise is less rigorous than an actual run, the website reads.
The run’s organizers are also taking aggressive steps to prevent runners from simply shaking the Wiimote up and down. All participants are required to install Proctorio, the test-proctoring software, onto the Wii that they will be using, which will track their movements using the Wii’s sensor bar.
At press time, an email update was being sent out to runners informing them that failure to wear the protective wrist strap on the Wiimote would result in an automatic disqualification.