Sport-Strava's fitness fundraiser challenge raises 440,000 pounds for NHS

Social distancing protocols may have limited outdoor exercise on a daily basis but more than 130,000 people took part in Strava's fitness challenge to raise more than 440,000 pounds ($545,468) for Britain's NHS in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Dubbed the 'NHS Active Challenge', users were asked to upload their numbers from an indoor or outdoor activity that was 10 minutes long for 12 days on to the social fitness-tracking app and donate at least five pounds.

Nearly 60,000 activities were uploaded by users, an overwhelming majority of which opted for running, with a collective distance of nearly 31 million kilometers. "The prevalence of running amongst athletes comes as no surprise, as a greater proportion of the public is turning to easy and accessible forms of exercise during the lockdown," Strava said in a statement.

"The high number of participants is indicative of the community support for the NHS and underscores the desire for people to keep active." More than 2.46 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 169,863 have died, according to a Reuters tally. The United Kingdom has 124,743 cases with 16,509 deaths.

($1 = 0.8066 pounds)