Apr 04
Gasp! You mean you can cheat technology?! You can, yes, but it’s not only morally wrong, it also won’t help you to become a better runner. We weren’t sure whether to publish this article or not because we certainly don’t condone any of these tactics, but just to prove that it is possible for an insidious runner to cheat the system and to highlight potential cheating with the Nike+ system, we’re going to share these ideas with you.
- CREATE IMAGINARY RUNS
Can’t be bothered to run, but you want to win a challenge? Simply use the Nike Plus Edit Web site to quickly create an XML file based on your imaginary 50-mile run before work today. Add the XML file to your iPod, and then before you know it, iTunes has uploaded your mileage to your open challenge(s). Pure evil personified!
- TRICK iTUNES
Did your run not go so well today? Wanted to run 10 miles but only ran two? No problem! Edit your most recent run before you upload it to Nike+, and trick iTunes into publishing your pretend workout! - CALIBRATION
Calibrate your Nike+ incorrectly, on purpose. Tell your iPod that you are going to calibrate over one mile, but only run half a mile. Oh how impressed your friends will be when you slash your personal bests by 40% over the space of a few days! - MULTIPLE IPODS
Why use one iPod when you can have two, or even three?! Attach a sensor to each running shoe and BOOM! A 10-mile run suddenly becomes a 20-mile upload. Slightly expensive, admittedly, but people with a lot of money are probably more likely to cheat than those who do not, don’t you think? - WEAR NIKE+ ALL THE TIME
This is the least serious way to cheat as technically, it does involve exercise that you are responsible for. Simply wear your Nike+ device wherever you go! Walking around the house, strolling around the mall or the grocery store, all those footsteps soon add up! But why stop the evilness there? If a friend or a relative is going out somewhere, attach your chip to their shoes and ask them to record their mileage on your behalf!
Remember, you can cheat all you want online, but when it comes down to that real race against real people, we will all know who has been telling the truth and who has not. Be warned! 
11 Responses to “5 Ways to Cheat at Nike+ Challenges”
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April 4th, 2008 at 7:14 am
Great running blog, and thanks for the link to my blog entry in #2. I actually lost another run this week (only the second one since I wrote that entry), so I followed my own instructions (and made one minor change in the steps that I’d missed last time).
Is there a bloggers’/new runners’ Nike+ challenge in our future, perhaps?
April 4th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Hey Scott, didn’t you tell me once that you used to wear your Nike+ kit while mowing the lawn?
April 4th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Ha, ha, yes! I once wore my Nike+ while mowing the lawn to see how far I walked. I don’t have a particularly large garden or anything, but I ended-up walking about 2.5 miles!
I deleted the “run” from Nike+ after a short while because it really affected my overall pace statistic, as you can probably imagine! 
April 4th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Hmmm, can we believe the data on the 400m to go challenges for this month? None of the top runners will be above suspicion.
I think mis-calibration is at the source of lots of unintentional cheating. I know I joined some “beginner” challenges when I first started running and was shocked to see people claiming to be couch potatoes logging 10 mile runs at a 6 minute pace. They swore they never knew they were natural born runners. I really hope they are, but I suspect it is a calibration problem.
The Nike + Edit site looks really useful if you lose run data or forget your iPod on a run.
Thanks for deciding to post it.
Mike
April 7th, 2008 at 10:33 am
@Gabe Thanks for stopping by, Gabe! Those instructions to edit your xml data can be a lifesaver for those of us who need to salvage lost running data! This has happened to me only once in about 140 runs, so while the percentage and incidence of error is quite minimal, your instructions are invaluable!
@Mike Ha, ha, no-one from 400mToGo.com will be cheating, we can assure you.
I know exactly what you’re talking about regarding those beginner challenges by the way where there’s always one or two people who have incredulous mileage statistics. I think there’s a couple of reasons for that. Firstly, some beginners get hooked on Nike+ from the get-go and genuinely try to run as many miles as possible, even if this is not necessarily the smartest way to run/train. Then there are some people with a big ego who are advanced runners who simply join beginner challenges because they think it’s funny to blow the rest of the competition away. They’re only fooling themselves ultimately though and you can usually spot them from a mile away.
April 7th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Speaking of Challenges… How do I get invited to the 400m to go challenges? There was one that was open to the public last month, but they are all closed this month.
April 19th, 2008 at 6:52 am
Hey Mike, Thanks for checking in about our challenges. You’re right, this month all of the challenges are closed. We’ll be doing another public 400mToGo challenge in May, and every month thereafter.
June 18th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Hey - I’m the creater of the aforementioned nikeplusedit.com - hopefully you really don’t think it’s evil personified!
Just wanted to say thanks for the link to the site. I hope people find it as useful as I do - to create missing runs or correct skewed run data. Unfortunately I can’t think of a way to stop people using it for morally wrong purposes, but they’ll know they are cheaters… and the run in nike+ looks like a long flat line with no variation in pace or speed.
I’m planning to upgrade the site in the near future to make it easier to use, along with an inevitable iPhone version - allowing you to create a run file from your iPhone while on the go, and get it emailed to you for later submission to Nike+. Finally, I’d love to hear from anyone who has used the site on how to make it easier to use or requests for features.
June 20th, 2008 at 8:01 am
That’s great news, Keith, thanks for letting us know! We look forward to seeing and using the iPhone integration. nikeplusedit.com can be a lifesaver whenever the Nike+ hardware fails to record running data so your app is much needed! Let us know when you update your application, we’d be glad to feature it on our site!
August 6th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Anyone found a way to upload a lost run when you are using the sportsband version? I must not have hit the button the second time and so although I did the run it is missing from my log.
August 17th, 2008 at 4:48 am
Hey, i have a question. when my iPod froze up, and i wanted to edit a run, i did everything the nike+ edit site told me to do, but in the end, when it said, your data has been uploaded, it was not uploaded on the nike+ site, why is this happening?