Jul 11, 2025
As EthGlobal sponsor last week in Cannes, Self invited developers to integrate its SDK either onchain or offchain for a chance at $10K in bounties. As creators of Tech Neck Protocol, Vanes Mercado and Claudia Alban were interested in bringing Self’s identity-verification solutions to their work, bringing accessible wellness tools to the crypto community.
Vanes and Claudia built Pace Club, a privacy-first, women-focused social running platform. Pace Club leverages users’ Strava, a popular fitness tracking application, to record activity, and combines that data with user preferences (speed, vibe, etc.) to connect similar local users. Matched users can message directly via Pace Club to plan IRL runs and then earn rewards when they confirm they met in person.
We caught up with Vanes and Claudia after EthGlobal to discuss their inspiration for Pace Club, why Self was necessary for building a safe community, and how they see the app growing in the future.
What inspired you to build Pace Club?
Greg Isenberg and Ideabrowser inspired us to build Pace Club. It started with an email we got a week before the hackathon, which highlighted how women are driving growth in travel and how the infrastructure to support them safely still lags behind. The email mentioned a need for verified reviews from other women. We leaned into fitness because that is what we love and would actually want to use right away and share with friends.
When did you decide identity verification was a core pillar?
As soon as we started designing the experience, it was clear: if we wanted to enable safe IRL meetups, especially for women and marginalized groups, we needed trust at the foundation. Identity verification wasn’t an afterthought; it was the first layer.
Why did you choose Self for identity?
Self made it possible to verify gender without collecting or storing sensitive data. That gave us a privacy-first way to build trust between users. It also meant we could build a secure experience without compromising user agency, a win-win.
What’s your vision for the future of Pace Club?
Pace Club is more than a social running app - it’s a protocol for building community through movement. We see a future where IRL runs replace awkward coffee dates (giving others a platform too), points reward consistency over vanity metrics, creators and crew leaders can monetize directly, and identity and wellness data are self-sovereign and portable. Whether you're new to running or a city captain, the future of social fitness will be verified, onchain, and fun.
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Self is a privacy-first identity verification platform designed for Web3 and universal apps.
Securely onboard Web3 users with private, trustless identity verification.
Enable Sybil-resistant polling for fair and transparent governance.
Check sanction lists to ensure compliance without exposing user data.
Facilitate wallet recovery with secure identity proofs.