Lyrics:- 'All for freedom and for pleasure' - Hughes, Orzabal & Stanley
Song Choice:- Back in 1986, 'Everybody wanted to Run the World' to promote 'Sport Aid' which culminated in a 10km fun run held simultaneously in 89 countries. The song peaked at number 5 in June 1986 and united millions of people the world over to raise a staggering £30M for Live-Aid and UNICEF.
With just two weeks to go until 'The Marathon des Sables' and a month until 'The London Marathon' both of which have again raised ten of millions of pounds over their 30+ years history. It strikes me that there are thousands of other worthy causes and local races out there where vital funds and awareness can be raised and athletic feats of endurance rewarded with hard-earned cash.
I've fund-raised during lots of my Mega-Day Marathon Running Challenges over the years and have raised cash for the elderly, the addicted and the terminally ill. Seeing that Sir Ranulph had collected nearly £20M for Marie Curie over the years encouraged me to donate my training fee to them too, especially after visiting their Care Home in Penarth.
It felt like the right thing to do at the time and of course it was... The only thing is you never get to see exactly what's happened to the money that you've donated as the charities are so huge.
So maybe there's an even more rewarding local worthy challenge out there? One where folk can group together their efforts together, utilise their 'Fund-Raising' and their 'Marketing and PR Skills' for instance to buy a piece of desperately needed equipment for their local hospital or a 'Guide-dog's Training'... A tangible result of their collective efforts.
My local ParkRun in Cardiff like all ParkRun's is free and attracts 700-900 people every week - £1 from every runner would raise at least £33k a year if folk pulled together for a worthy cause. All from just £1 a week - I'd pay that wouldn't you? Don't get me wrong ParkRun is an amazing phenomena and it's about getting folk active which is brilliant but we could all give something back each week and feel even better about our efforts?
The thing is, you don't need to 'Run the World' to make a change no matter how large or small and it's amazing how such small steps could add up to making huge differences for those that surround us and that even a local 5K can be a great vehicle for making that change.
Well worth a thought...and if you need to find an event to do so take a look no further Eventbrite and start making a difference :-)
Rory Coleman - 986 Marathons - 241 Ultras - 13 Marathon des Sables
9 Guinness World Records - 8,479 Days' Alcohol Free
& 1 Inspirational Running Memoir - Get your copy here.
Location: Pembroke Road, Cardiff
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