Thursday, November 26, 2009

Promoting a Cause

Next weekend on 6 December, I will race in the Singapore Marathon. It will be my fifth race in this series. It tends to clash with the Ironman Western Australia triathlon, so I elected to do the integrated race for 2006: a marathon after 3.8km of swimming along the Busselton Jetty (Perth) and 180km of riding on a pancake-flat course.

A week after the marathon, I will race in the inaugural Triathlon Family Beer Run. This is a fun run that will take place over a short circuit, with the requirement that after each loop you gaff a can of beer. As of now, it may be 4-5 cans of cans in total. No, it does not sound particularly healthy to drink beer and run, however it will be a controlled race. The pace (of running and drinking) is to be carefully regulated by each runner. The results should be interesting considering that many are casual beer drinkers, who are not short race specialists, and who will be recovering from the grueling marathon distance.

There are at least twenty runners signed up for this race. Free beer is attractive and attention grabbing. Alongside this fun run, one of our members suggested that we use this event to support a charity. Thus, our support is two-fold: support a fun cause, and a serious cause.

When do you know when to support a cause? Are all causes serious? Can we take a fun approach to raising funds or initiate a charity drive?

What may be more useful is how we drive home the message about having a cause, and supporting it. Our personal values can ensure the success of our efforts and strategies. Are we reminded of relevance of our cause as we participate in a fun event? There were many ‘fun runs’ on the calendar of charity drives this year.

Which cause do you support? Seiously.

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