The Winter Solstice Badge

It’s that time of year. The Winter Solstice is coming up soon, and if you time your runs correctly there’s a badge in it for you. To earn “The Shortest Day” you’ll need to complete two runs on the day of the solstice. The first needs to start before sunrise and finish after and the second needs to start before sunset and finish after it goes beneath the horizon.

Running can run the gamut between being a complete drudge, and a truly spiritual experience. This run will almost certainly be one of the two. You’ll be strapping on your kicks, and going out in the dark and also, possibly, the bitter cold. While you wait for your GPS to sync you may think to yourself “This is it. The earth has moved as far as it can go in one direction and from tomorrow it will start to come back. This day has signified the cycle of death and rebirth among human cultures across the globe since time immemorial” or you may think “I can’t feel my toes.” You just don’t know how it will go until you give it a try.

The Solstice Badge is a chance to roll the dice, to take a chance on something truly meaningful, to feel your heart beat in your chest, to see your breath explode into the air, to watch the sun crest the horizon, and then later to watch it fall beneath the earth. Set your alarm! Take the chance!

Here are some important things to remember:

  • The solstice happens at the same moment across the globe, but it will happen in very different time zones. This year in most places in the world it will occur on Tuesday, December 21st. Confirm the date and sunrise, sunset times with Google.
  • Treadmill runs don’t count. Treadmills are cold machinations isolating you from the natural glory of your local suburban through road. Also, we need GPS to figure out the time of the sunrise and sunset.
  • Give yourself enough time. You need to get dressed, get out the door and get GPS before the sun crests the horizon. You can count on the fact that GPS will take longer to sync when you’re shivering in the predawn cold. It’s best to start a bit before sunrise, and finish a little while after.
  • If you’re south of the equator. Then this will be your Summer Solstice. The day will be long, it will probably pretty warm, and your badge will blue and orange.

12 Comments

Anup Pokhrel

The solstice is at 21:47 tonight here in Nepal. So, I think it would be better if the badge was awarded for running during sunset today and sunrise tomorrow enveloping the actual solstice. I missed the run this morning. 🙁

Reply
Keith

It’s a shame that this badge can’t be earnt with a single run. I started a run before sunrise and finished after sunset. I suppose I could split the activity into two separate runs, but that felt like cheating.

P. S. Keep up the awesome work.

Reply
Steve Shearer

So I followed your advice, checked the times on Google for sunrise & sunset, made sure I was running 15 min before and 10-15 min after. I have left it until the following day but still no sign of the badge?
Did I miss something?

Reply
Simon St Hill

Just joined the platform, and I know the vast majority of users live in the Northern Hemisphere, but there are still quite a few runners below the equator. Hence our Winter Solstice is on the 21st of June. I suppose I could earn the “Winter Solstice Badge” on the Summer Solstice here in Australia? (A tough ask since the longest day around here is 15.8 hours)

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