As it’s been a few weeks since the last major BitLife update for iOS and Android, we’re still waiting for that stock market-related challenge. But in the meantime, Candywriter’s got yet another one of those weekly challenges, and it might not be exactly what you’re expecting from the penultimate challenge of 2022. But before we get to what the challenge is, we should also remind the newer players out there that these events almost always run for four days after they are launched on Saturday afternoon, and several previous challenges can be restored for a small fee. That means you’ve still got enough time to finish this challenge.
It would appear that Candywriter did not prepare anything Christmas-related for this week’s challenge — perhaps they found it a little too on-the-nose or wanted to mix things up this year. Either way, the World Cup has just concluded, and with football/soccer fever still in the air for many a fan out there, that sport is heavily represented in the Marathon Runner Challenge.
Not only do you have to run for your school’s track team and run for 90 minutes (unless subbed) on the field as a professional soccer player. You’ll also need to do some running from the law, so if you’re up for the challenge but are having some difficulty in certain tasks, we’ve got you covered with this BitLife mini-strategy guide, which covers the Marathon Runner Challenge.
You Can Breeze Through the First Few Requirements
We don’t need to remind you that you can easily create the right character for the marathon Runner Challenge if you have God Mode — just create a character whose Special Talent is Sports and everything should take care of itself eventually. But if you don’t have God Mode, just keep re-rolling until you get a character (male or female, as BitLife has soccer leagues for men and women) whose early milestones include athletic-related feats. Or re-roll once you reach the age of 11 and don’t have the required Athleticism to try out for a sports team.
As is often the case in BitLife challenges, you may find it a bit harder than usual to see Track and Soccer among the sports. That means there is a chance you may have to graduate from college before turning pro, but as long as you have your Athleticism bar at least 70 percent full, you can make the track and soccer teams in junior high or high school. If you’re in college, your Athleticism bar will need to be 90 percent full or higher, but that’s why going to the gym, learning martial arts, walking, etc. are available options under Activities.
The moment you sign with a soccer (or association football) team in any of the countries that are represented in the game, you will automatically become Famous, so that should be another very easy task to complete in the Marathon Runner Challenge.
Work on At Least 3-4 Attributes Per Year in Practice
As BitLife is a life simulator and not a sports simulation game, the sports career mechanics may leave a lot to be desired if you’re comparing BitLife to an actual sports sim. To cite some very relevant examples, you cannot control the attributes or skill levels that you’ll receive after turning pro, there are no heights and weights in the BitLife universe (a drawback as many sports positions are dependent on one’s physical attributes), and you cannot choose your position when playing school sports.
With all that in mind, the only way to reach superstar level in soccer (or any other sport in the game) is to practice and train regularly — make sure you’re practicing at least 3-4 skills and training one physical attribute per year, and you should be at your prime in your early 30s — or mid-30s if you decide to start playing professionally after college.
Of course, having better skills means greater odds of winning a championship (and you need five of those to fulfill one of the Marathon Runner Challenge’s requirements), though there is a way to fast-track your progress with this task.
Request a Trade to a Top Team Once You’ve Honed Your Skills
Yes, it is correct that as your skills improve, so will your team’s talent level, but being the best, if not one of the best players in the league does not guarantee you will win a title — in the real world, there are countless Hall of Famers or Hall of Fame-caliber talents who never won any kind of professional championship before retiring. So if you’re still having difficulty winning even just one championship, you have the option to request a trade to one of the top two or three teams in the league.
Take note that you won’t be able to do this successfully early in your career, while your skills are still raw and not fully developed. Wait until almost all of your attributes (if not all) are at least 60-70 percent full, with most of them closer to 90 to 100 percent full, then request a trade to a top team — at this point in your career, they will almost certainly be interested in acquiring your services.
And while we’re on that topic, make sure to do the right thing off the field when confronted with random scenario dialog boxes. This allows you to maintain a high Respect level, and if your Respect is consistently low, chances are you will eventually get traded to a less talented club!
Keep Spamming Crimes Where You Can Easily Get Caught (and Surely Survive)
The toughest requirement to complete in the Marathon Runner Challenge, as it would appear, is being able to successfully run from the cops at least twice. You can do this any time in the challenge, but if you wish to win five world football championships first and save the hardest requirement for last, that’s also fine. So how can you easily elude the authorities and make two successful escapes from the long arm of the law?
Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any way to reliably increase the chances of running from the cops successfully aside from choosing Crime as a Special Skill if you have God Mode — doing that will slightly increase your chances, but that won’t guarantee you either a high rate of success in this area. It all seems to be down to luck, but there are still some ways to save time without putting your life at risk.
While you can assault players on the field and attack coaches when they have something negative to say about your play, there is also the chance that they will fight back. Instead, we would recommend spamming certain crimes — committing the crime, trying to run, quitting BitLife if your attempt to run fails, and repeating the process if needed.
The easiest way to do this would be to repeatedly attempt bank robberies — provided you quit and restart if you get caught, there’s no way you can potentially be injured or lose your life in such a situation. The “worst” that can happen is that the robbery will be successful and you’ll walk away with some extra cash. Just be patient with this requirement, and assuming you saved it for last, you will be rewarded in the end with a new pair of eyeglasses or shades or a new hat for completing the Marathon Runner Challenge.