Happy Thanksgiving! For readers with an Apple Watch, remember to run or walk 5K today to earn a unique Activity achievement medal and an iMessage sticker. This is the first special Activity Challenge event and is only available for a limited time.
To earn the reward, you must start and complete a running or walking workout using the Apple Watch Workout app by the end of November 24th, Thanksgiving Day. The achievement is technically only available to Apple Watch users in the United States but there is a way to make the award appear if you live elsewhere …
The achievement was first announced on Monday with a surprise notification for Apple Watch owners.
Although the workout is only supposed to be available to users in the United States, the primary country where Thanksgiving is celebrated, you can trick the Apple Watch by changing your region settings if you live abroad.
To do this, open the companion iPhone Watch app. Navigate to General -> Language & Region -> Region Format. Change the Region Format to United States and the Thanksgiving Activity Challenge will appear. You can see the details of what you have to do by opening the Activity app and selecting the Activity tab.
Apple has been promoting the Thanksgiving Apple Watch challenge on social media with the help of fitness celebrities who have been tweeting about the event.
Hopefully, Apple will do more of these special fitness challenges in the future, especially so international Apple Watch owners can join in officially. If you don’t own an Apple Watch yet, follow 9to5Toys for the best Apple Watch deals on Black Friday.
This Thanksgiving Day, I plan to earn this special achievement by completing a 5K with my #AppleWatch Join me! pic.twitter.com/Ae5SeHOksT
— Jeanette Jenkins (@JeanetteJenkins) November 24, 2016
Update: Here’s the iMessage sticker you get when you complete the 5K Thanksgiving Achievement. The iMessage sticker can be found in a new Activity Messages app that automatically appears.
If you’ve already done your 5K run or walk and got the achievement, let us know in the comments below.
@9to5mac @bzamayo here’s the sticker pic.twitter.com/5CDk7raz5T
— Alireza (@alixrezax) November 24, 2016