FUNDRAISER: One Man Marathon
Of the many, many bummers 2020 has dialed up for us, one that’s left me particularly dismayed has been the moratorium on races. Not only has the running community been left in the lurch, but many nonprofits depend on fundraising events like races to drive revenue. A Chicago nonprofit speculated one event’s cancellation cost them $500,000 in revenue. Spread across the greater nonprofit landscape, the losses have to be astronomical.
I was out jogging the other day (thankfully a COVID-safe activity) and I was thinking about how a year ago I was beginning to train for the Kiawah Island Marathon. Shame there wouldn’t be one this year. Can’t have a race without a big group of people, right?
Right?
The One Man Marathon!
Wrong! I say let’s have a race. On December 13th, I’ll run a COVID-safe, One Man Marathon around the greater Charleston, SC area. Between now and then I’ll train, documenting it on social media in an effort to raise $3,000 for the Lowcountry Food Bank. LFB is a terrific local organization that focuses on feeding and educating populations in need. That $3,000 will help create 18,000 meals. Whoa!
To answer your questions:
Why run at all? Why not just stage a fundraiser? Trust me when I say it is tempting to raise money without ripping off 70ish training runs plus a full marathon. But I was considering training for a personal marathon anyway, may as well double down on the time investment by drawing a bit of attention to it and by extension the Lowcountry Food Bank.
Isn’t this just a veiled publicity stunt? Not at all. It’s an overt publicity stunt! Actually, that’s not true either. I just thought it would be fun to document it through G Sharp’s social channels. So why not make it meaningful by raising some cash for the Food Bank? Any increased visibility for G Sharp is gravy, but I certainly do not need or expect this to translate into anything on that front.
Is this race sanctioned by the City of Charleston or the Food Bank? No, not an official race in any way shape or form. It’s really just a leisurely 26.2 mile jog, and a correlating fundraiser.
Fine, I’ll buy that you’re doing this for the right reasons. But are you also doing this so you can say you won a race? No! No, no, no, no. Well maybe.
Race day will be December 13th, and I’ll provide weekly updates before then. Don’t care about this, running in general, or me? All completely understandable. But don’t let it preclude you from supporting the Food Bank, especially as we close in on the holiday season of one of the most unstable years any of us can remember.
Tentative race course!