As a VR enthusiast, I wanted to test the limits of VR/AR, bodily disassociation, and simulation sickness. Bay to Breakers seemed like the prime opportunity to test this, especially after I was nominated by Zappos to break a “Bizarre World Record” — the longest distance run while wearing a VR headset.

Getting nominated for my “Bizarre World Record” on stage

The race is 7.4 miles across the entirety of San Francisco. Around the city, up hills, through the park, and alongside 80,000 runners. What a great idea for a VR geek!

The Gear VR headset has a setting called “Passthrough Camera,” which allows you to see what your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 tablet camera is viewing. Your field of view is very limited (practically no peripheral vision), the frame rate is poor, and there is no optical image stabilization (everything jitters terribly). Think of it as a 1995 home video shot on a dune buggy driving over 4 inch rocks.

The Gear VR Passthrough Camera. You can’t see much.

Given I have a strong stomach and generally don’t experience simulation sickness, I wanted to push my body’s limits. If running the Gear VR for 7.4 miles didn’t make me sick, nothing would. Here are my biggest discoveries:

Mile 1: “I Might Bump Into You”

The beginning of Bay to Breakers is like releasing 10,000 bulls from their pin. People are running in front of you, next to you, and behind you. Given the Passthrough Camera’s limited field of view, I bumped about 10 people in the first few minutes.

I couldn’t see my arms, and I certainly couldn’t see anyone next to me. I would frequently bump shoulders with the runners next to me. Luckily, after saying sorry and after they realized I was running half blind, they didn’t shove me back in retaliation.

Up the Hayes Valley Hill, panting for air.

Mile 2: “Don’t Look Down, Left, Right… Just Straight”

There are so many reasons to want to turn your head during Bay to Breakers. People are wearing crazy costumes, and doing crazy things. However, this is the last thing you want to do wearing a Gear VR in Passthrough Camera mode. On the simulation sickness scale, this definitely scored on the higher end. Once I stopped looking around and accepted my 7.4 mile fate, I only looked forward.

Mile 3: “The Gear VR wasn’t built for this”

The Gear VR is designed for consumers. While Oculus & Valve’s Vive are designed for the more hardcore user, the Gear VR is the casual consumer’s VR headset. At $200, the Gear VR is great for watching 360 videos and playing iOS/Android-like games. That said, none of these headsets are designed with exercising in mind, especially running.

Luckily, the Gear VR headset stayed on my face. It didn’t move nearly as much as I thought it would, and I wasn’t running on my toes or trying to break my fall. Samsung really nailed the hardware. The Gear was fairly comfortable for the entire race. This was surprising to me even as someone who wears the Gear for a 6 hour flight uninterrupted.

Mile 5: “Are These My Arms?”

At around mile 5, I began to feel like my arms and legs weren’t mine. I was becoming disassociated with my body, partially due to the fact it was on automation mode — “run, run, run” — but more so due to seeing my arms and legs as if they were in a movie. They felt detached like they belonged to someone else.

This was undoubtedly the most bizarre part of my experience and I began to run with my arms up higher so I could amplify the feeling of disassociation. At this point, I also was running much faster… possibly because I was completely disassociated. More future testing required!

The weirdest thing? Taking a selfie. Looking at your phone’s screen of yourself on a screen is just plain WEIRD. No use in trying to describe this. Try it yourself.

Yes, I suffer from the “Michael Jordan tongue” syndrome.

Mile 7 “Mmm… Sweaty Lenses”

Until the very end of the race, my sweat hadn’t dripped onto the lenses. The Gear’s padding is soft and absorbent, so it actually works well for exercising. I did use some anti-fog spray beforehand, which helped a lot. The lenses didn’t fog at all, and I could see perfectly clearly most of the race.

DONE.

Obviously, I was elated to finish the race. I ran the race in an hour flat, which calculates to an ~8 minute per mile pace. The battery was around 65% upon completing the race too. I am now the world record holder for the longest distance run while wearing a VR headset (I dare you to beat my record), but more importantly, I see a vibrant future for both VR/AR in sports and exercise.

For non-exercise applications, nausea is mostly a solved problem assuming developers and designers don’t abuse the medium, and in 3 years, I don’t doubt the size and weight of VR/AR headsets will be light and compact.

The future excites me.

PS: If you love VR, I’m the founder of Learn Immersive, an immersive language learning platform for teachers and students.