Row, row, row your boat ... all the way to Beijing!!

Would you like to row a boat to Beijing to celebrate the upcoming Olympic games? What's wrong, not up for the 53,716,520 meter journey around the globe? Fair enough. But what if you could do it in the safety of your local lake or river? Would you be game then?

So far, 4,000 people have answered yes to this question, lending their muscle to move a virtual boat across vast seas on this Homeric journey from Morrisville, VT to Beijing, China -- just in time for the start of the rowing events at the summer Olympics.

According to the folks at Concept2, the company behind the Row to Beijing Challenge, collective meters logged by their website users will be used to power a virtual boat from North America to Asia. As an added feature, users can track the progress of the boat at all times using Google Maps. The boat will also make several stops along its virtual journey, and all registered rowers who rowed at least 2,000 miles that day will automatically be eligible to win a number of great prizes.

If you've been searching for a fun and entirely different way to supercharge your workout, the Row to Beijing Challenge may be exactly what you're looking for. The boat has already begun its virtual voyage, but you still have until August 9th to jump on board. So what are you waiting for? Sign up and start rowing your boat today!!