Strava to sponsor 10 women

Strava, the GPS activity tracking app, is continuing its push into the running world by offering sponsorships to American women competing in the U.S. Olympic marathon trials.

The company is taking applications until next Friday, Sept. 25, to select 10 women to represent Strava at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Los Angeles in February. The company is calling the campaign Run to Rio.

“We want women to show up at the Trials in full force, to celebrate Joan Benoit-Samuelson and the 237 other women who made history in LA in 1984 by racing for a spot on the very first U.S. Olympic Marathon women’s team,” said the company’s run marketing manager Larissa Rivers, in a press release. “We honor the women who’ve paved the way for today’s athletes. Like Strava itself, this program is designed to motivate and support avid athletes as they run down ambitious goals.”

The 10 athletes will be selected by Sept. 30 based on three criteria: their performance, community presence and personal story. They will selected by members of the Strava marketing team.

The Olympic marathon trials will be held Feb. 13 in Los Angeles, one day before the LA Marathon.

The company made their name by offering a GPS route and data tracking for cycling, a sport which remains the core usergroup of the service, but has expanded to offer apps geared towards a number of individual sports and fitness activities, including rock climbing and water sports. The running and hiking app is increasingly eating up market which was previously held by other run tracking software and hardware.