The Rise of the Strava “Jockey” | Runners paying others to run for them

Have you ever seen someone take your Strava segment in such a quick time that you know you won’t be able to do it? Well, there might be something for you: a Strava “Jockey”.

Essentially you pay for someone to run for you at a set pace (the higher the speed, the higher the cost) and they run using your Strava login and you sit back and watch the unearned Kudos roll in.

What started as a joke in Indonesia by an X user called @hahahiheho has now blown up in the country and could be set to spread further afield.

”By the way, I’m opening a Strava jockey service!! But the person who will run is my brother/family member who is a great runner. The price is dependent on the pace, km, etc. DM (direct message) me.” The post included an image, not of a Strava route but a route from the video game Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. And yet the post has now had almost a million views and 2,500 reposts.

Since then “jockeys” have started to appear all over Indonesia. Satria, 17, who started the Strava jockey account @Satzzyy services start from 25p per kilometre. If a client wants him to run at 4:00 min/km, he charges an additional £1.25 per kilometre for up to 10km. 

Most “jockeys” are teenagers and say that their clients they are running for are all older professionals, too busy to go out for their runs. 

One jockey has reportedly earned £4.80 for one job but did not disclose the pace or distance. While these numbers might not seem staggering, the minimum monthly wage in Indonesia is around £100 so he has clocked up 5% of a monthly wage in one run! In the UK that would be the equivalent of earning around £90. 

It isn’t just for runs on Strava with some “jockeys” offering cycling activities too for a variety of prices. 

So will we see it spread? The rise in people out sourcing their own jobs in a post pandemic world means we wouldn’t be surprised if this desire for likes and follows on Strava would lead to it spreading outside of Indonesia and across the world but if it does Strava will undoubtedly step in to police the app. 

But for now, turns out even if it didn’t happen it might still be on Strava.