If you read the last post I published, then you probably got an insight to how my thought process has been working since Ironman Louisville last August. The underlying question I have been asking myself is how can I use my skills, knowledge, desires and talents to “Do More”.
More than just a race, more than just a training schedule, more than a competition among friends and rivals. Honestly, it hasn’t been a very productive mental exercise because during that time I have not thought of something that:
a – excited me
b – was a way to motivate others
c – had an outcome that served others
My initial thought was to do something like the EndureChallenge that I did in 2008, but to use the event to raise money for charity. Upon further thought I realized that I’ve grown a little weary of these types of fundraisers and they already exist in many different ways: “I’m doing an Ironman, donate to my charity”, “I’m doing a marathon, donate to my charity”, “I’m running across the country, donate to this charity”, etc.
These charity fundraisers are a great way to motivate people to raise money for great causes. It is just a matter of the fact that this idea has been done millions of times, therefore I wasn’t sure I could do it any better. I was also uncomfortable with the idea that the only “event” would be some endurance challenge that I took on. So that left me with no ideas to pursue.
Side note: If you want to see two groups that are doing great things raising money with their running, cycling and triathlon activities – I suggest you look at: Team in Training and Team World Vision
Genesis of my Idea:
Last Sunday after I got to my phone I had a lot of messages waiting for me. People were posting on my facebook page hoping I was ok, emails were in my inbox wondering what happened and text messages were there asking me to call or text when I was able. It made me realize that there’s a pretty good community built up around our blog, podcast, twitter and facebook friends. While some of those within the community are active, not all exercise.
Idea 1 – You need to get people that you know, but don’t exercise to do something (anything). Why not challenge them to run or walk at least one 5k (3.1 miles) within the next year.
Most people can walk 3.1 miles so that didn’t seem like it would be asking too much, but why would someone care enough to become active, register for a 5k and then go do it? We need to make completing the 5k count for something.
Idea 2 – For every 5k our facebook friends and fans complete within the next year, I will take a full week (7 days) and try to ride that many miles on my bike, starting in Kentucky heading west (or maybe driving that many miles west and trying to make it back to Kentucky)?
Right now I have 436 friends on facebook and Endurance Base Camp has 94 fans for a total of 530 people in the “community”. There is overlap of course, but that’s an estimate. Therefore if every single friend and fan did just one 5k I would try and ride 530 miles for the week. Sounds reasonable and achievable. (Now if everyone does two 5k’s we are asking for some problems).
I liked the idea, but it still kind of gave me the “who cares” feeling. It would get some people out the door and walking, jogging and running, which I like – but I also wanted it to serve others too.
Idea 3 – Find companies and businesses that would be willing to sponsor or donate $1 for every mile I’m able to cover in that 7 day period. 100% of the donations will go to charity*
Bingo! It covers everything that my current life mission statement is about. I can motivate some people to get active, I get to do something a little silly and active myself and it helps to serve others.
Why would a business be willing to donate $1 per mile? Essentially, for them it would be a decent marketing opportunity. Their participation would break down to $1 per every 5k that is run within the year. In marketing dollars, that is a pretty low cost when you consider price per active participant.
The other aspect is that the business’ exposure to sponsorship cost is pretty low because I will only be able to ride so many miles in 7 days and that is dependent upon people’s participation for the one year period prior to that 7 days.
Feedback!
This is only an idea at this stage. I would love some feedback from those of you within our current circle of internet friends. Does the this sound like something that is:
a – possible
b – motivating enough to participate
c – worth participating
* Choice of Charity: I haven’t had the time to review and select a charity at this point. But I would love to consider a charity that helps provide clean drinking water in areas of the world that don’t have access to it. As an endurance athlete, I understand the value that proper hydration has to health and performance. Sunday made me appreciate that even more. Sadly, clean water is not something all communities have access to; therefore I’d like to the support to go in that direction.
* A second option that I’m passionate about would be to see funds to go support diabetes research and education.
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