Guess what turned up on my doormat? I have never received one of these magazines before despite having entering the ballot 3 or 4 times and FINALLY I have my very own shiny copy! I’m not sure whether to frame it or flog it on eBay.
When I opened the packet out came the magazine and a veritable shower of leaflets all with a request for money, for sponsorship, for consideration. They all seem very worthy and valuable causes - except possibly for the one which asked for money for a beer trip to Spain. However I strongly suspected this one had been sneaked in by The Mr.
I haven’t yet decided for whom or even WHETHER I’ll be raising money for a charity.
My marathon in Paris was a brilliant experience but it was very intense. I couldn’t have managed any more pressure what with the training intensity and having to blog after every workout, raising money as well would have been really tough. It would have been a real struggle to fit it in.
My training schedule would have had to be amended to: Monday: 16 x 400m starting every 2 mins and 1 hour bath in baked beans, Tuesday: charity raffle and 9 miles at 8:30 min miles and rattle a tin in high street and Wednesday: Jump from plane while peddling legs in an attempt to manage to fit in speed session while looking for a landing spot. Sounds horrendous. And not just the baked beans.
I’m thinking that maybe I should ask for sponsorship but in a pay-me-to-run-the-marathon way rather than a tin-rattling, doing-silly-things-for-cash way. I tend to try and help the children’s or baby charities and I don’t want to waste the opportunity of getting into the London Marathon to help.
People nowadays tend to donate to charity regularly. When friends are raising money, I will donate to their charity (if it’s one I agree with) and use that as my charity donation for the month. It’s also a way of showing support for your friend. Well ... that and it makes them shut up about it and stop hassling you for cash.
A problem with sponsorship though, is that you feel obliged to complete the challenge because your friends and family members have paid you to do it. I’m hoping I won’t struggle too much with the London Marathon but it’s an additional pressure on top of fitting all the training in, at the right speeds, at the right time and getting organised.
What if I get injured? Are my family and friends, determined to see their pound and pennies of sponsorship in action, going to make me crawl all the way to the finish line in pain? Using the flail of “Starving children in Africa...” and “Poorly babies” as their war cries as they threaten to withhold payment of the sponsorship until I’ve completed the entire 26.2. Also what about the severity of the injury? An ingrown toenail and they’ll let me come in under target by 20 minutes? A chesty cough: 45 minutes and for a broken ankle I get a shopping trolley and a dog to pull me?
I think there’s more to this sponsorship lark than I initially thought. I’ll have to have a deep think about which charity to choose. And which friends I ask to sponsor me.
What my friends did was any minute under my last time for the race distance, they'd add additional money ;-) eg guaranteed 20 quid but for every minute you drop off the last half, you get another quid :) Its quite a fun and PR friendly way to do it.
ReplyDeleteThe day itself was crazy hot and I totally failed to PR, but the way it was agreed meant the charity still got 20 quid!
Oh that's a brilliant idea! So even if you don't get a best time you still get loads of money for your charity! Brilliant!
DeleteSee, this is why I have never run for a charity and I never will. It's good to know I'm not the only one who really doesn't need the additional stress! People always make me feel guilty for not running for charity, but that level of pressure is too much for me. Running is my 'selfish' activity, and if I want to help a charity out I'll donate some of my own money. I actually find it horribly awkward asking people for sponsorship too - I'll sponsor someone else, but somehow I just can't do it myself.
ReplyDeleteI think you should do whatever will make you enjoy the race the most. The London Marathon is an *incredible* experience and congratulations for making it through the open ballot!
Thanks Jessica! Its funny isn't it, as soon as you mention you're running a marathon people automatically assume you're raising money for something! Have to admit though I didn't get in through the open ballot ... I think the chances are akin to that of winning the lottery nowadays ... but cheated and got in on my GFA from Paris :)
DeleteAlways a tough call Sarah, I ran my first HM for the charity MInd and The Bupa London 10k for the Laura Crane Youth Cancer Trust. My last HM I ran just for myself as I didn't feel I could hit the friends and colleagues again. One this that worked well was the "tub in the Pub" marked up with the details and for locals to drop in spare change whenever. You could always go for the 25p per leg option x 2 x 26.2 = £13.10 per donation? that way if you end up hopping you still get half the cash ;)
ReplyDeleteI like the Tub in the Pub idea. Basically no stress ...unless some sneaky blighter makes off with it! Wonder if I can do that at work ... leave a tub in reception ... hmmm a plan is forming! :)
DeleteOr indeed have a sweepstake!
ReplyDeleteSweepstake is a cracking idea too ... put a sense of fun into the sponsorship!
DeleteI think this is the last year I will be running for sponsorship. Mainly because any more than three years running and I'll end up losing friends! But also, this time I'm asking for sponsorship for a 50mile race. If someone has sponsored me to run that, it's unlikely they'll want to sponsor me for a 5k next year, which will probably be all my legs can manage!
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea behind Guess to Give for something different. http://www.guess2give.com/ Basically friends bet on your finishing time, at a cost of £3 per guess. 50p goes into a jackpot for the person that guessed the closest time, and the other £2.50 goes to the charity of your choice. It encourages people that probably wouldn't normally sponsor you!
I know the feeling! You feel guilty asking the same people for money! But how fab to be asking for sponsorship for a FIFTY MILER!! Wow!
DeleteOoh love the idea of Guess to Give! What a great idea!! LIke you say it would encourage people who wouldn't normally want to give!!