Super Speedy Fundraising with Ragnar Relay

Tomorrow we are picking our routes for the Ragnar Relay: Wasatch Back race.  As mentioned in this previous post, route selection will be based on who has accomplished the most fundraising.  This has turned out to be an amazing motivational tool to get the team excited about raising money for cancer research.  In a single month’s time, we have raised nearly the entire amount of our fundraising minimum.  At this moment, we have raised just under $11,500 and we are just $1,000 short of our minimum goal to be able to race.  The team has been amazing at fundraising.

There’s been numerous fundraising high lights so far.  Ones that come to mind are Diana Bateman being the first one to hit $500 and raising her goal to $1000 shortly thereafter.  Jodi Vargas, Mandy Fuhriman, and Ryan Smith each raised $500 or close to it in just a couple of days. But, this week has been the most exciting so far.  I announced to the team on Friday that we had made the $9,000 mark, 75% of our goal.  I came back to work on Monday and found out that over the weekend we had raised another $1,000.  I was so excited, but the team had even more in them.  The next day, I was elated to see that our team had done even more and raised $1,500 in 24 hours.  I seriously don’t think there’s anything these guys can’t do.  

This has seriously been one of the best things I have done in a while.  This also has got to be one of the most effective fundraising tools out there for charity running groups.  Figuring that the average cost of an entry for a Ragnar Relay is $1,500 and that, at least for the Huntsman Hometown Heroes program, the minimum fundraising goal per team is $6,000, you have a return on investment of 300%.  It’s also an awesome way to recruit people into the organization.  So far, our two Ragnar teams have recruited 26 new individuals into the Huntsman Hometown Heroes program.  A few of these are even from outside of Utah, which gives the HHH program national exposure.  The Ragnar Relay may very well be the most effective charity running event around.  See if there is one in your area and if you can get a charity running team together.  You’ll be happy you did.

Sh*z Ragnarians say; Wasatch Back Style

Salt Lake Mormon Temple
One of the sites in Salt Lake City

At the end of January, @RagnarRelay hooked into an internet meme and tweeted "Ragnar is jumping on the bandwagon but we need help! What is some #ShitRagnariansSay?"

A runner in the Wasatch Back Race

I still have yet to participate in my first Ragnar Relay, so I can only guess what most of the responses mean.  However, I do know that if you run in the Wasatch Back, as I plan to in June, you will inevitably meet some Mormons.  Of the many things that we Mormons do, one of them is to practice clean speech.  That's right, no swear words.  That has not, however, stopped us from coming up with our own choice phrases that stand as suitable substitutes.  So, while you may not hear sh!% so much here in Utah, you are bound to hear shiz, frick, and son of a biscuit eater.  The video below gives an excellent primer on most of the naughty Mormon phrases that you may hear during the Wasatch Back race.

With that being said, here is my favorite list of #ShizRagnariansSay, Wasatch Back style.

"Van #(1 or 2, whichever is the other one) are running really damn dang slow today." @erichauge

"Those high school track kids are only passing us because they're not old enough to drink vote"  

@Ranwithyourmom

"I seen a van full of BYU cougars back there" @JoMoFoDaddy

So, if you come out and enjoy one of the best Ragnar Relay's there is, hopefully this post will help you understand a little bit about the quirky culture that Utah has to offer.

See you at the finish line.

What's the funniest thing you've ever heard/seen at a race?  Share below.


Follow me on twitter: @MyriadRagnar

Half Way There.

This last week our team hit the half way mark for our fundraising goal of $12,000.  All of this momentum has mostly happened within the last month. Prior to this month, I think our team raised around $1,700 over a 2-3 month period.  We really saw a shift in the fundraising this last month.  I think most of this momentum can be contributed to one aspect that is unique to running a Ragnar relay.

At the beginning of January, our team decided that we would give preference for route selection based on who had completed the most fundraising.  A Ragnar race can be very different for each individual runner depending on what position they run in.  Some runners will have lots of uphill, some lots of downhill.  Only half of each team needs to be at the actual start line.  Most people will have some kind of preference for what leg they want to run.  We made one caveat, any of the cancer survivors or previvors would get to pick before any of the employees. Most of the survivors and previvors are flying in from sea level and won’t be used to the higher elevation here in Utah.  This is one of the great things about using a Ragnar relay event as a charity fundraiser.  The dynamics of the event allow you to create a pretty effective motivational tool to inspire people to raise funds.  It also allows you to create a milestone before the final fundraising deadline, which helps motivate people to donate sooner.

We’ve had some truly remarkable fundraisers in our group.  Multiple people have met the $500 minimum or, come close to it, in less than 24 hours time.  These individuals have a very supportive family and friend network and are able to garner support with a simple email.  They are a great asset to the team and we are glad to have them aboard.

Members of Huntsman Hometown Heroes (HHH) are really starting to take notice of our group.  Our team has currently raised $7,251 as of today.  This puts us as one of the top, if not the top, fundraising teams at the moment for HHH.  There is still a lot of time left before the final deadline and we still have quite a bit of money to raise.  Our team still has quite a few more ideas to try out, so stay tuned.  

We have a very special team working together.  If you’d like to make a contribution and help us out, you can visit http://ragnarrelay.kintera.org/collincburton and make a donation. Thanks for reading.