On Thursday 26 March 2026, my alarm went off at 6:30am in Málaga and, for the third time, I laced up my running shoes for Automattic’s “The Sun Never Sets on A8C 5k Relay” the 10th edition.

If you haven’t heard of it, twice a year Automatticians all over the world head out for a 5k. Some people race, some jog, some walk the dog around the block. There’s no qualifying pace, no fitness test, no leaderboard that really matters. If you move your body for 5 kilometers (or thereabouts), you’re in.

This time I started at 7am, just as the sky over Málaga was shifting from dark blue to that soft, promising light. I covered 5.03km in 35:18, a 7:01/km pace. Not beating any PBs, just steady. Afterwards I headed home for water and oats to fuel my day, before stepping into work.

On paper, it’s “just” a company fitness event. In practice, it feels like a distributed flash mob. My run happens in the quiet streets of Málaga, but at the same time colleagues in India, South Africa, the U.S., and everywhere in between are tying their shoes, snapping photos, or squeezing in a stroll between school drop-offs and work shifts. The internal chat fills up with selfies, sunrise shots, treadmill dashboards, and proud “I walked it!” check-ins.

As a Lead of Leads at a fully distributed company, I think a lot about how we build real community when we don’t share an office. Most of our connection happens in written form, docs, messages, comments, feedback. Events like The Sun Never Sets add a different texture. We’re still apart, but for a day we’re also side-by-side, sharing something embodied and simple: moving our bodies for half an hour and cheering each other on.

That’s a big part of why I keep signing up. It nudges me away from the screen, reminds me that my colleagues are full humans with knees that creak and playlists they love, and reinforces that “remote” doesn’t have to mean isolated. We can be in Málaga and Montréal and Manila and still find ways to show up together.

I love that it’s become a tradition, something that gets us moving, talking, and feeling more connected each time we do it.