In most Pacer Virtual Adventure Challenges, your dot on the map moves only when the challenge receives a valid, accepted distance update (from the step source / activity type your challenge is set to accept). When that happens, you’ll also unlock checkpoints along the route. 

This article helps you quickly find which rule is blocking your progress and how to fix it.

Quick checklist (fixes most cases)

1. Confirm you’re in a Virtual Challenge (Adventure Challenge) with a map (not a Virtual Race).   
2. Confirm your activity was recorded after you joined the challenge.   
3. Confirm your challenge accepts your completion method (automatic tracking vs manual submissions).   
4. If you use a connected device/app, confirm Pacer has permission to receive that data. 

1) Make sure you’re in the right event type

Adventure map movement is a “Virtual Map” feature used by most Virtual Challenges (Adventure Challenges). 

• If you joined a Virtual Race, the rules can be different (often must be completed in one session), and it may not behave like a cumulative map challenge.   
• If you’re not sure what you joined, open the event details and verify it’s an Adventure Challenge / Virtual Challenge. 

2) Confirm how your challenge is set to count progress

Virtual Challenges are generally completed by accumulating distance toward the goal within your chosen timeframe. 

But acceptance rules can vary when you enter a Virtual Challenge:

• Some setups accept cumulative distance tracked by Pacer’s pedometer 
• Some accept manual submissions 
• Some accept specific exercise types 

What to do

Open the challenge settings/details and check:

• Does it accept automatic tracking (pedometer / synced device)? 
• Does it accept manual entries? 

• Does it accept the activity type you’re doing (walk/run/bike, etc.)? 

  Many Pacer Virtual Challenge pages explicitly describe that you can finish using walking/running/cycling or other distance-based activities, depending on the setup. 

If your challenge is set to accept only one method (e.g., manual submission only), your map won’t move until you update progress using that method.

3) Check the “start time” rule (most common gotcha)

If your activity happened before you joined the challenge, it may not count.

This rule is explicitly stated for Pacer virtual events: only activities started after joining are counted (and manual entries with a too-early date/time may not count). 

What to do

• Make sure your walk/run/ride is recorded after you joined. 
• If you manually submitted a distance, confirm the date and time aren’t earlier than your join time. 

4) If you use a connected tracker/app, verify data permissions + sync path

Pacer challenges can be updated directly in the Pacer app, or by connecting supported wearables/services to sync results in. 

If your Adventure map isn’t moving and you used a third-party tracker, the most common cause is: Pacer isn’t receiving the activity data due to a permissions or integration issue. 

What to do

• Open Pacer → Settings → Steps Data Source  and confirm the connection is active.   
• Reconnect the service if needed (disconnect → reconnect). 
• Confirm you’re logged into the correct account in the connected service (common with Google accounts, Fitbit accounts and Garmin accounts).

5) Force a refresh (and allow a short delay)

Even when everything is correct, progress can appear “stuck” if:

• the app hasn’t refreshed the challenge state yet, or 
• the integration sync is delayed.

What to do

• Pull-to-refresh the challenge page / map page (if supported). 
• Fully close and reopen the app. 
• Switch networks (Wi-Fi ↔ cellular) and reload the map.

(These are best-practice troubleshooting steps; timing can vary by device and integration.)

6) Edge cases that look like “no progress”

You’re moving, but checkpoints don’t unlock

Checkpoints unlock when you reach defined distances along the map route. 

If your dot moved a little but no checkpoint unlocked yet, you may simply not have reached the next checkpoint distance.

Your “steps” increased but “distance” didn’t

Many Adventure Challenges are distance-based (km/miles). 

If your step source isn’t translating into accepted distance updates for the event, you may need to switch to an accepted method (e.g., GPS activity or manual submission—depending on event rules). 

When to contact support

If you’ve confirmed:

• it’s a Virtual Challenge with a map,   
• your activity is after join time,   
• your challenge accepts your completion method,   
• and integrations are connected correctly, 

…but progress still won’t move:

Contact support and include:

• Challenge name (and join code, if any) 
• Screenshot of the map showing no movement 
• Your activity record (date/time + distance)