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Strava, the running and cycling app, has rolled out a new feature, ‘Local Legends’, that introduces a new way to compete against other users on your local running routes (‘segments’) based on effort instead of speed. That means you no longer have to be the fastest to feature on a leaderboard. The athlete with the highest number of efforts on a segment earns the Laurel crown and becomes the Local Legend.
And the good news is that the feature works on a rolling 90-day calendar, meaning that segments will be regularly rotated. The result is a more inclusive way to reward all athletes on the platform. It takes into consideration a broader range of factors than simply speed: namely, how many times you’re willing to retrace your steps over the same segment (do it more than anyone else and you become the Local Legend).