Unleashing the Power of Thor and The Marvels to Beat my Running Records and Outrun Zombies

Over the last decade, Zombies, Run! has motivated over 10 million runners to flee the undead. But now, the app is stepping up its game with licensed Marvel Move missions that are captivating runners in a new way.

These missions are essentially radio dramas with full voice talent and sound effects, designed to be listened to in short bursts as you run. The app has ten full seasons of missions with full voice acting, focusing on the post-apocalyptic community of Abel Township. In addition to that, the Marvel Move missions offer a variety of campaigns featuring superheroes like X-Men, Doctor Strange, Thor, and more. The voice cast for these dramas is impressive, keeping runners invested in the story.

One runner tested out the effectiveness of the Marvel Move and Zombies, Run! missions by running a 5K on a track and a 10K on the trail. The Halloween-themed Virtual Race mission got him invested in the story, and he ended up hitting a 5K time of 22:23, just slightly under his goal. For the 10K training run, he ran it faster than most of his actual 10K races of the last few years, simply because he was enjoying the narrative and trying to run fast.

While the “Chase” feature, which allows you to use virtual zombies to scare you into running faster, didn’t work well for this runner, the positive reinforcement from the stories themselves pushed him to run harder.

Overall, Zombies, Run! and Marvel Move missions are suited for couch-to-5K runners who need audio guidance and motivation. However, experienced runners are finding it to be a vital change of pace instead of the same high-tempo music playlists over and over. The question remains whether it’s worth subscribing to these apps instead of, or in addition to, more traditional running apps like Strava or Runkeeper. But for now, these missions are certainly motivating runners in a new and captivating way.