365 Half Marathons in 52 different Cities...

[Jason_Fisher]

...this is my challenge set for 2011.

I have been looking at a variety of things to do for charity and this is the one i am going forward with.

I am working with 'The MS Society' to raise my target of £100,000 for the research into Multiple Sclerosis. I have already spoken to 2 local newspapers with a readership of 52,000 and 98,000 and they are both keen to do an editorial, quite a large spread.

I will be using social media to market this venture aswell, including facebook, twitter, Ustream and a Blog to keep everyone up to date on the success of the Target.

With the positive response i have received so far, i believe that when i launch the website in October i should get a good response and quite a few visitors.

I am looking for 10 businesses to buy advertising space on my homepage for the launch. Your business will be on the home page for the whole year and i will write articles about you, with links back to your site etc. I am looking at charging £1,000 for the whole year.

Is there anyone who would be interested in appearing on my homepage for the whole of 2011?

Thanks

 

[ScottNelson&Co]

one marathon a day?!

I would be interested in the advertisement. Private message me when your website is ready.

 

[Jason_Fisher]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. It will be 1 'Half' Marathon a day for 365 days. So thats 13 miles a day.

I will post on here and PM you when the site is live. Obviously the site will be pretty contentless when it first becomes live, but i am hoping for some good numbers throughout the year. I am looking for the Investment in the advertising from the start though for the whole year, so not just when it gets good, i need people to support me from the start.

Thanks for your interest, i will keep you updated.

 

[GaryMc]

Are you a regular runner already? Do you have knee transplants scheduled along the way?

 

[Jason_Fisher]

I have already gained medical advice and professional advice from some professional runners and although it sounds crazy, it IS doable! I think the crazier something sounds the better, gives you that little extra incentive to say 'actually, i did it!'

Yes i have run marathons and half marathons before. The plan will be to run in my own City during the week as i know all the different routes etc, and then choose a different city each weekend, and run saturday and sunday in the different cities.

 

[akirk]

Good luck

I can see too many issues that might crop up, so wouldn't get involved, but if you achieve it you will have done something pretty amazing

Alasdair

 

[GaryMc]

Good luk with it. Hope you have a waterproof laptop as I can imagine that you will be spending most of the year in an ice bath!

How do you plan to verify that you have completed the run each day?

 

[Jason_Fisher]

Thanks Alasdair,

I would really appreciate your feedback. You say you can see too many issues that may crop up? Please could you elaborate? It would be useful to know as if they do crop up i can address them accordingly.

Thanks again.

 

[Jason_Fisher]

Gary,

Ice baths, unfortunately are not new to me I have had may fair share.

The verification is one thing i am looking at now. If anyone has any ideas i would welcome them. I have a few ideas but i would need to iron that out. Aswell as running most of the days myself (trust being key), i will be running some organised events too, such as the robin hood half marathon, great northern run etc. just to spice it up a little.

 

[akirk]

you are talking about running nearly 5,000 miles in a year.
the chance of injury is too high - the publicity relies on your being able to guarantee that you can do it, pull out of it anywhere before the end period and publicity will be low...

there is nowhere near as much publicity in planning to do this as being 99% of the way there - e.g. by 1/2 marathon 360 you will be getting a lot of publicity - but for the first few, much reduced.

If my business were interested (and not how we spend our money anyway) then I would look to pay the money on the basis of completion, not with all the risk that you may never start / may pull out soon after...

so basically risk of not happening is too high

Alasdair

 

[ethical PR]

Hello Jason

I have been working with Chris Jackson an amazing young man who is dedicating 2010 to running 12 marathon's in 12 months (plus assorted Ironman's, triatholons and 10Ks) to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where 5.5 million have died and a million and a half lost their homes in the last year alone.

He has just come back from running the 'most dangerous marathon in the world' in the eastern provinces in the Congo.

www.runforcongo.wordpress.com

He's raising funds for Women for Women International which helps women in areas of conflict to rebuild their lives and help support their families.

Although I admire your ambition, I think physically and logistically you would find it difficult to run a half marathon every day of the year for a year. And do you have funds in place to cover your entry fees, living, travel, accomodation and other expenses for a year?

You mention you are supporting the MS Society; a great charity. What do their PR/fundraising team say in terms of you using their branding/name to promote your site/project?

Charities (especially larger ones) normally want to have an agreement in place with you regarding projects such as the one you are undertaking in terms of how you use their brand and position the relationship.

I do wish you every luck, but think that you will need to think through the logistics and marketing or your endeavour very carefully to ensure it's realistic and practical to achieve your ambitious target.

 

[Jason_Fisher]

Thanks, i've sent you a PM.

 

[Jason_Fisher]

The MS Society have been really helpful and have taken what i am doing with open arms, and have offered me all the help and support i could ask for. I am going to see them next week with detailed plans of what i am doing and they are giving me access to their own PR team to work with help. The main rule really was that i couldn't use their branding alongside any advertising with another business.

 

[akirk]

The main rule really was that i couldn't use their branding alongside any advertising with another business.

Doesn't this kill the whole idea?
How can you have sponsorship on your website from companies paying you lots of money, when you surely must have branding from MS there as well...

Alasdair

 

[Jason_Fisher]

Yeh i see your point on how i replied quickly on this, but i can do it.

Basically, i cannot print any flyers or anything like that with the MS Society Logo AND another businesses Logo. I can however have the sponsors on my website homepage, but i have to have them approved by the MS Society. Basically, i cannot promote a pornographic company along side the MS Society for example, or gambling.

When i spoke to them i explained that i want 10 businesses on the homepage, with a link from their logo going to their website, and also i can blog about that company and verbally promote them, and send out information about any news from that company etc.

 

[Jason_Fisher]

Has anyone got a good idea for a title for this, for example for the domain of the blog? Ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jason_Fisher]

What would be the rules when fundraising regarding paying for expenditures. Can you take money out for things like flyers and petrol etc? Would i need to set up my own charity to do this? Obviously the idea would be to get things as cheap as possible but what are the rules regarding this, because obviously if someone donates £10 then they want the whole amount to go to charity, but things need to be paid for to fundraise.

Any advice would be great.

 

[Jason_Fisher]

I have been speaking to local press, who also put me in touch with one of their contacts, who then put me in touch with another contact who has a contact in a Multi Million pound business, who is wanting to meet with me regarding this venture i am taking. Just goes to show how talking to people can really get you somewhere. I will keep you all updated on this post as i think its something alot of you could maybe get involved in as its a great Charity.