In this series, Under Armour wanted to shine a light on the intensity of marathon training by partnering with host and producer of MTV's Catfish, Nev Schulman, during his preparation for the New York City Marathon. In addition to being a Catfish-ing expert and Dancing With The Stars alum, Nev is also a dedicated runner — and we wanted to show off what that means for him with our creative franchise– Virtual Training Diaries.
We released this four-video series in the four weeks leading up to the NYC Marathon and immediately following the race. Each video focused on a different aspect of Nev’s training and preparation, all while providing insight into the overall training experience, how it fed into his progress and goals, and products that helped him accomplish those goals.
The plan was to lean into a lo-fi, video-diary approach for this series to highlight the authenticity of his training. All videos were primarily self-shot as a true video diary so that Nev could give our followers insight into what marathon training is really like. Each video showcased different parts of his training/racing experience, such as challenges he was expecting (and training for) and how he was taking care of himself ahead of the race.
Video 1: “Why I Run” [2 weeks out from marathon]: Nev created a “Get Ready With Me”-inspired video that took us through a typical workout for his marathon training. He explained where his passion for running comes from, how many marathons he’s run, why he was stoked to run NYC and how putting in the work is universal across running, dance and life in general.
Video 2: “Race Ready” [1 week out]: One week out, we caught up with Nev and his coach, Mario Fraioli, for a final pre-race tune up. We learned about their favorite drills, stretches and other techniques in preparation for the big race.
Video 3: “NY State Of Mind” [2-3 days pre-race]: Nev video diaried his pre-race-day routines with quick cut, vlog-footage featuring snippets of what he was up to around town two or three days before the race — with an emphasis on what makes running in NYC special to him.
Video 4: “Race Wrap-Up” [post-race]: Nev recapped NYC Marathon race day. He discussed falling short of his goals and what his plans were for the future.
This series garnered 4.6M Total Views across all 4 episodes on Instagram.
It also received 5.5M Total Plays across all 4 episodes on TikTok.
The View Rate across all episodes averaged 44% stronger than the benchmark for our UA Run handle.
The Cost Per View across all episodes averaged 33% stronger than the benchmark for our UA Run handle.
