The Strava x Chipotle section problem has sparked low season motivation for a lot of runners looping round their native Chipotle restaurant for an opportunity to win free burritos for a 12 months. In Tempe, Ariz., two ultrarunners have taken the problem to the intense—logging practically 1,000 kilometres every on a 360-metre loop since Jan. 2.
Jamil Coury, a veteran America ultramarathoner who’s tackled the Barkley Marathons and Hardrock 100, and Kevin Russ, a seasoned thru-hiker and winner of the 2024 HOKA Vert Strava problem (the place he climbed 84,563 metres in a month to win a 12 months’s price of footwear), have been in a head-to-head battle all month.
Russ isn’t any stranger to the Strava Chipotle problem; he got here into the occasion because the reigning champion of the Los Angeles section final 12 months. Heading into the ultimate day, he’s holding a 45-lap lead on Coury, who had simply put in a 50-mile day. Their mixed 3,200+ efforts have pushed Tempe to second place within the total Chipotle Metropolis Problem leaderboard–a separate competitors to log the very best mileage collectively, with the profitable metropolis scoring a buy-one-get-one (BOGO) entrée deal for all residents.
“It’s an fascinating occasion, as a result of it’s not on a managed course,” Coury mentioned to native information. “Usually, in a marathon or path race, there’s infrastructure arrange by an occasion director. However right here, our area is a two-city block stretch in Tempe the place regular life is going on—individuals ready for the bus, scooters zipping previous, loud bikes going by. You by no means know what’s going to occur subsequent.”
Regardless of the fierce competitors, the 2 runners have fashioned a friendship. Coury’s mother and father introduced brown-bag lunches for each athletes (with their names on the baggage) as they pushed by means of their loops on Wednesday. Coury has been documenting the problem in day by day vlogs on YouTube and Instagram, whereas Russ’s buddy, Sean Haworth, has been documenting his journey on Instagram.
With simply hours left earlier than the competitors ends at 11:59 p.m. PT on Friday, the city-challenge race stays tight. As of Friday morning, San Francisco leads with 1,480 miles, whereas Tempe sits in second place with 1,150 miles. Toronto, the one Canadian metropolis featured within the 2025 problem, sits twentieth out of 25 with 217 miles (350 km).
A spokesperson for Chipotle informed Canadian Operating the mileage and camaraderie between Coury and Russ have exceeded something the model noticed final 12 months. In 2024, the Washington D.C. section was a good race that got here all the way down to the ultimate few hours, with opponents Joshua Bauer (1,345 makes an attempt) and Blake Reinke (1,292 makes an attempt) battling till midnight. Coury and Russ had each surpassed these totals earlier than the ultimate day.
Because the clock ticks down, the query stays: Who will win the coveted free burritos for a 12 months? One factor’s for certain—Coury and Russ have cemented their standing as legends on this burrito problem.