Quick: A thousand dollars is falling out of the sky, right down to YOU. But there’s a catch: You NEED to spend it on RUNNING. Do we need to twist your arm? Yeah, didn’t think so. That’s our Tuesdays on the Run topic. What would you do with a thousand bucks if you had to spend it on running?
I’m all about racecation, racecation, racecation. You probably know I love to travel for races. In fact, I’ve run on at least two continents in each of the 3 previous years.
This year I raced in a new-to-me-country…Canada…and I’ll be picking up a new state come November…Pennsylvania. I’ve actually run there before but not raced but who’s splitting hairs?
As I type I’m awaiting the London Marathon Lottery results. This time last year I’d already been notified that I was NOT in for 2018.
I also bombed out of the Tokyo Marathon lottery back in September. Pffft. I runfess I’m feeling a little desperate when it comes to finishing off the six World Marathon Majors.
I’ve tried lotteries, tour companies, tour company lotteries and I’m still coming up empty handed. What’s a runner on a mission to do?
Of course there’s always the charity route. I’ve run on charity teams before. I actually had no problem raising the couple thousand dollars needed to run the Chicago Marathon on the Lupus Charity team back in 2010.
So I checked out Tokyo’s charity options only to learn that their charity teams are all set for 2019 and the program is closed. What?
London’s charity options are still open…well some teams are already full. One team hasn’t yet opened and the rest? Oh I’d need to raise in the vicinity of $7500 to $10,000. Yowza, that’s rich for my blood.
I thought having a thousand dollars to throw into a charity would have made a good dent in my fundraising requirement. Not so much.
Back to the drawing board…and to hoping a miracle happens for me in that lottery.
Have you run on a charity team? Have you been successful raising more than $5,000 to run on a charity team? How would you spend $1000 on running?
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I understand the rising minimums working in non profit world myself, but oh they make me crazy in how they put some healthy activities out of the reach of everyday runners.
Some of these charity requirements are crazy! Seems like it’s almost as hard as qualifying for Boston!
Ooh last year the answer would’ve been – buy a treadmill and a running watch. But I got those last year!! So… this year it’d be new running clothes and maybe a cross-training machine (does that count?). And some new shoes. Because really, how many pairs of running shoes is too many?
I don’t have a lot of friends OR family so fundraising tends to be a bust for me. Good luck! I know one local runner who raises oodles of $$ for TNT. Sadly her daughter died from leukemia.
I’d no doubt be spending on racecations & skirt sports.
I am ashamed to admit I have never run for a charity. Are you doing the Philly marathon in November? My friend (who is also doing the marathon majors) said that the tour company she is with told her that the longer she belongs to the club, the higher her chances are to get in London. Maybe in 2020 for her. She is doing Tokyo in 2019, also with a tour company.
The fundraising minimums are quite daunting – I’ve toyed with the idea of going that route for Boston but the high targets stop me in my tracks!
I’d have no problem spending that $1,000 on some race-cations 😉
Team Racecation! When I wrote my post on Boston, a couple of people suggested I go the charity route. Minimum amount is also $7500. Um, no. I don’t want it that badly, I guess.
I would definitely use the $1,000 on a treadmill – I’ve wanted one for so long and if I had the free cash, I’d finally commit to buying one!
I actually looked up the charity fundraising for Boston. When I saw $5,000, I was like okay, maybe I could raise that much…but now it’s like $8,000 and that’s just insane! I’ve fundraised for events like Cherry Blossom Run and the American Lung Association Fight for Air Stair Climb, but over $3,000 is very, very difficult…
I’m with you. It would definitely be a racecation – for a $1000, it would have to be Cape Town in South Africa. A 3-hour flight from here. And with any spare change I would buy a pair of trail shoes which I don’t have and some more visors – been looking for a green one 🙂 Sigh.
I have also looked into the charity route for Boston…and it’s a steep commitment (but I also believe it should be, given the demand for the race). It’s pretty humbling to think about the money raised for all the worthwhile charities by the devoted runners who take part in the fundraising!
We spoke a little bit about this last night but I totally agree with you about the fundraising options. I just wish they were a little lower, even $5,000 would be doable, but $10,000? No way!
If I had $1,000 you know I would plan a racecation! I’m think a racecation to Hawaii for the Honolulu Marathon would be awesome!
I’d stock up on shoes and gear, plus run alltheraces.
Yup, racecation. I don’t need more running gear, except shoes. A racecation would be fun, and $1k would be a lot of help paying for it. I’m in the process of planning for Disney in February, and there are other places I’d like to visit.
Well since you did get into London, I think you need some fancy new clothes and shoes to wear. 🙂
Wow, that’s huge fundraising amount. Glad you won’t need it for London!
I think since you got into London, you would use that 1k to fund your BRF side-kick Thelma from Colorado to tag along with you 🙂 🙂 🙂
I’m trying to finish the majors, too! A few more US tour operators got added onto to London last night – so there is still hope.