Its the middle of January, and in Michigan the overzealous weather people are getting excited about our first real dose of winter. With the cold air in place, its hard to think about outdoor activities like running, but thats what we want to do today.
As many of you know, since 2011 we have had a Run, Eric, Run fundraiser where we use the 5th 3rd River Bank run to raise money for NCN. Since we started this fundraiser, the goal has been to raise enough money to force me (Eric) to run the 25k race. While that was “fun” and helped raise significant money for NCN, we’ve been thinking about ways to change the event to get more people involved. What we didn’t expect is that the River Bank Run would help us make those changes.
The first change is that the fundraiser will now be called Run, NCN, Run. This change better reflects that the event is not about me, but all of us working together to impact children.
This year the race is on May 11, and they have introduced a 25k Relay that we want to take advantage of. We are looking for people to form relay teams of 3 people. Our hope is to set up periodic training events so that all the runners can get together and train. We also hope to get NCN students to run part of the race with us. Here’s where it gets interesting. The relay team which raises the most money will get a nice prize basket. We’re going to work with local businesses to put together a great basket of goodies for you to win.
If you’re not up for the relay, don’t worry, there are plenty of other ways to participate. You can run the 10k, the 5k, or even walk the 5k. If you have young children, they can participate in the children’s fun run. We already have four young kids confirmed to participate this year!!! We will also award a prize the the individual who raises the most money.
Let me break it down in bullet form:
- We looking for teams of 3 to run the 25k relay.
- We still want people to run the 10k and 5k.
- We still want people to walk the 5k.
- We are looking for young kids to be a part of the fun run.
- Everyone who runs is responsible for registering themselves with the River Bank Run.
- Everyone who runs for NCN and collects at least $50 in pledges gets a T-Shirt.
- Everyone gets invited to our celebration dinner on May 10.
- There will be a prize for the relay team that raises the most pledges.
- There will be a prize for the individual who raises the most pledges.
- All the kids who race will receive a special prize for participating!
This fundraiser is great because there are so many ways to get involved. For more information about the River Bank Run, click on this link. To let us know if you’re interested in running, or to ask a question, send an email to Eric. Finally, check out website often, we’ll soon update the homepage with a link to Run, NCN, Run where you’ll find pledge sheets, training information and more.
