Why Are Runners Posting Their Stats on Public Fridges? The Viral Trend That’s the Ultimate Brag
Everyone seems to be running these days. Either from their problems or quite literally. This rising TikTok trend is causing runners to share their stats in one of the most creative ways.
You probably ran into this trend on your FYP when someone sweaty approaches a convenience store fridge and picks out a water bottle. When they close the door, a graphic of their running stats from Strava is shown on the screen. Some videos have garnered more than a million views, and runners from across the globe have hopped on the trend. Strava-holics are even calling the videos and distances people post as “impressive,” and it’s getting universal love.
It’s a nifty way to showcase your own athleticism and achievements, but why is it becoming popular in the running community? We examine everything about the trend below.
What is Strava?
If you’re a runner who’s on social media, or if you know a runner, you’re probably familiar with Strava. The social app allows users to share their time, distance, pace, and calories burned when they’re running. The app was launched in 2009 and became a central hub for runners, skiers, climbers, swimmers, cyclists, or literally any athlete to track their stats and improvement.
The app functions allow you to add your friends to your feed so that they can see your progress. The app has grown to house over 150 million athletes in more than 185 countries, and tracks over 50 million activities a week.
Strava’s former CEO Charles Quarles told The Guardian that the community is essential to the app and encourages people to become more active in their lives. “I worked for a long time at the intersection of technology and communities, and at how technology brings people closer together, not turns into this dystopian thing of them spending time apart.”
The app also gives its users rewards for their accomplishments, whether it’s achieving their goals or getting active for the day. They also aim to make people hooked on tracking friends and peers, and that this will push them to go further and faster.
It’s also not just normal people on Strava. Trail running legend Kilian Jornet Burgada and Olympian Molly Seidel have their profiles highlighted by the app so that people can be inspired by their own personal training.
Why is everyone running these days?
You might have a couple of friends who are training for a marathon, or those who might bail out on a hangout to go for their routine run. Anywho, there’s been a surge of people who run for their daily exercise routine.
It’s not all just a coincidence. Running activities have surged since the pandemic and even more Gen Zers are running for the long haul. “A lot of them started running during the pandemic. A lot of them were starting careers at that time, were graduating from college and maybe didn’t have a real graduation, maybe didn’t have these normal adult milestones,” journalist Maggie Mertens told Vox. “They see homeownership and marriage and kids as kind of out of reach — further out of reach than even the millennial generation did.”
That’s why some people are looking at running as more of a social activity than an exercise. Running clubs have been surging throughout urban settings, especially in New York City. Since some people have lost hope in dating apps, some athletic singles are seeking connection in a running club. They do have one thing in common: running!
How to do the Strava Fridge Trend
Since the trend became popular, Strava made an easy and no-frills tutorial on how to do your own Strava Fridge Trend.
- Go on a run and use Strava to record your stats.
- When you finish your run, tap on the share activity button.
- Save a transparent sticker of your shareable stats to your camera roll.
- Upload a video of yourself opening and closing a fridge with a water bottle on TikTok, overlay your stats using the trending sound.
- Post and watch all the Kudos comments come in!
