Pacer offers several kinds of challenges to keep individuals and teams motivated.  Each challenge type has its own rules, scoring method and optional settings.  Understanding these differences helps you choose the right challenge and ensures fair competition.

Challenge Types

Pacer challenges generally fall into six categories:

• Step Challenge – participants compete to see who can walk or run the most steps. 
• Distance Challenge – participants compete to see who can go the farthest distance. 
• Daily Step Goal Challenge – participants must reach a daily step goal (e.g., 10 k steps) to earn points; they are ranked by the number of points earned during the challenge period. 
• Pace Challenge – participants must use GPS to complete a qualifying activity (such as a 5 km or 10 km run) and are ranked by their best pace. 
• Virtual Race – participants use Pacer’s GPS to record a single distance session; ranking is based on fastest time. 
• Adventure Challenge – participants virtually “travel” a route (e.g., across a famous city or scenic trail), unlocking checkpoints along the way; the challenge is first‑to‑finish. 
• Wellness Challenge – focuses on positive habits beyond walking (e.g., hydration, meditation, sleep) and awards points for completing daily tasks.

These diverse options allow you to tailor challenges for individuals or teams, short competitions or long‑term wellness programs.

Rules & Advanced Settings

Each challenge type can be customized with rules to promote fairness and prevent overexertion.  The following settings apply:

Step Challenge

• Total Step Goal (optional) – sets a cumulative step target; participants see a progress bar.  Goals must be in 10,000‑step increments and cannot be changed after publishing. 
• Daily Step Limit (required) – limits how many steps count toward the challenge per day.  The default is 30 000 steps, adjustable up or down to suit your audience.  This prevents overexertion and cheating. 
• Scoring – participants’ scores are based on their total recorded steps (subject to the daily limit).  At the end of the challenge, they are ranked by total steps.

Distance Challenge

• Total Distance Goal (optional) – sets a cumulative distance target.  A progress bar tracks participants’ progress.  This cannot be changed after publishing. 
• Daily Distance Limit (required) – caps the distance counted each day (default 20 km or ~12.4 mi), adjustable by the administrator. 
• GPS‑Only Option (optional) – restricts the challenge to GPS‑recorded activities only.  This ensures that distance comes from purposeful outdoor activity rather than background pedometer data. 
• Scoring – participants are ranked by total distance (within the daily limit).  If a GPS‑only rule is enabled, only GPS‑tracked sessions count.

Daily Step Goal Challenge

• Daily Step Goal (required) – participants must meet or exceed a set number of steps each day to earn one point (default 10 000 steps).  The goal cannot change after publishing. 
• Scoring – participants are ranked by total points accumulated.  Only one point per day is awarded, encouraging consistency rather than single high‑volume days.

Pace Challenge

• Minimum Qualifying Distance (required) – participants must complete at least one outdoor activity of a set minimum distance (default 5 km) using GPS.  This cannot be changed after publishing. 
• Scoring – participants’ best pace (fastest average speed) across all qualifying runs determines their rank.  Only GPS‑recorded runs count.  A tie may be broken by earliest qualifying run or longest distance at the same pace.

Virtual Race

• Race Distance – typically requires participants to complete a single run/walk of a specified distance (e.g., 5 km, 10 km, half‑marathon).  Pacer records time and pace using GPS. 
• Scoring – ranking is based on fastest completion time.  All participants must finish the race distance to appear on the leaderboard. 
• Optional Rules – admins can set cut‑off times or restrict the race to specific dates or windows.

Adventure Challenge

• Route – participants accumulate mileage to move along a virtual map, unlocking checkpoints and milestones. 
• Scoring – the leaderboard typically reflects how quickly participants finish the total distance.  Some adventure challenges may be non‑competitive and focus on completion rather than time. 
• Customization – admins can choose pre‑made adventure routes (famous landmarks, cities, or national parks) or design their own.

Wellness Challenge

• Healthy Habit Goals – these challenges promote habits such as drinking water, meditating, getting enough sleep or practicing gratitude. 
• Scoring – participants earn points for each daily task completed.  Leaderboards rank users by total points. 
• Flexibility – admins can design single‑habit or multi‑habit challenges (e.g., hydration + steps + mindfulness).  Habits can be weighted equally or differently.

Scoring System & Timekeeping

• Calendar Day – Pacer records activity based on each participant’s local midnight‑to‑midnight calendar day.  This ensures fairness across time zones. 
• Syncing Buffer – after a challenge ends, participants have 12 additional hours to sync their final data.  Data synced after that window is excluded. 
• Time Zones – participants in different time zones still record their activity within their own calendar day.  Administrators should allow extra time for global challenges before finalizing leaderboards. 
• Daily Limits & Goals – step and distance limits or goals apply per calendar day.  Exceeding a limit simply means extra activity won’t count toward the score, but those steps still contribute to personal health goals. 
• Manual vs. GPS Data – admins can allow or disable manually added activities.  For distance and pace challenges, enabling GPS‑only ensures fairness by preventing manual entries.

Summary

Pacer’s challenge platform offers a diverse toolkit for motivating yourself or your team.  Whether you’re counting steps, logging distance, racing against the clock, or building healthy habits, understanding the rules and scoring system ensures a smooth and enjoyable experience. With these guidelines, your next step challenge, distance race or wellness competition will be both fun and rewarding.