Don’t Be Afraid to Focus on Fun
Photo by Lincolnian (Brian)
Many charity athletic events are for the serious runner or walker. Not to mention the fact that raising much needed funds for a charity is serious business as well. The problem is, focusing on the serious can cause the race coordinator (i.e., you) and the planning team more stress, and make you forget how fun planning a race can actually be.
Yes, some races out there should be reserved for serious athletes and raising large sums of money. However, if you are planning a community 5K run/walk, or a 1-mile fun run/walk, it’s okay to have a little fun. This is especially true this time of year. The holidays bring an opportunity to get creative and spice up the type of race you are planning.
I was reminded of this when I came across an article from Huddersfield, UK covering a local charity fundraising event. The Santa Run had over 300 participants and raised thousands of pounds (the monetary kind, for the US readers out there) for a local trust and hospice organization. And if you check out the link you’ll see this event was all about fun. Each participant was dressed as a Santa!
It’s this type of event that shows creating a relaxed atmosphere and reducing the focus on times, mileage and winning does have a place in race planning. You’re still going to raise funds with this type of event, so if it is more your style, go for it!
Here are a few ideas:
- Have participants sign up as teams of five to eight. One person should dress up as Santa, the rest as reindeer.
- Take it a step further and have all team members hold onto a long rope throughout the entire race, thus everyone must run or walk together. There is an event like this each December where I live.
- Switch it up and instead of Santas, encourage participants to dress up like snowmen.
- Have a winter hat contest among your participants; the wildest, prettiest or most colorful wins.
- Similar to Halloween hold a costume contest. Select the categories beforehand. Ornaments, Christmas trees, cookies/baked goods and stockings are examples of categories that can lead to some creative exercise outfits!
Lori,
Thanks for this post. Many of the charity events are raising money for causes that aren’t fun. That is no reason to not have fun in organizing and participating in the event. Ensuring the event is fun will help ensure participants look forward to coming back every year. It will also help in getting local media attention.
There are a lot of opportunities to be creative with costuming! Dressing up is very popular in the UK.
I think it’s usually optional unless its a theme like the santas. There are a few here too – the Vegas santa run had nearly 9000 runners this year. (PS Have you seen the movie Run Fat Boy Run?)
Roger – That is a great point. Sometimes the somber reality of the cause needs the fun factor to keep people’s spirits up. And the media loves bright and flashy.
Sandra – I haven’t seen that. I’ll have to look it up!