Runners Making A Difference

January 15th 2020

Though running is primarily thought of as an individual sport. Runners are pretty good at coming together, especially when we are called upon to do so. 

Samantha Gash, A renown ultra marathon runner, public speaker, and Australian native, made that call. She has organized a multi national virtual run, The Relief Run, to battle the effects of the terrible bush fires that Australia has been battling for months. All profits are being donated to the Red Cross relief fund.

She called for help and runners across the world have heard it. As I'm typing this article, over 8700 registrations, and $507,000 have been raised. All of this has been done in just over 1 week!

"When Nic Davidson and I started this, we were hoping to get 400 signed up & raise $20K. The response is evident that linking an activity that so many people are passionate about - for a greater purpose, is a great way to achieve impact. This is an unprecedented level of damage & every dollar is critical for the immediate and sustained relief." -Samantha Gash

The race is set for January 18th-19th, there is a 5k and half marathon option. The entry fee is a minimum donation of $50, but there is an option to sign up as a team. All of the money goes to the Red Cross. 

This outpouring of support goes to show the power of the running community, even on a global scale. 60+ countries and thousands of runners coming together on short notice to help out a fellow runner and a country in need. 

-See you on the road! 

**Edit 1/29

The Spoken Brunners Saturday running club held a meeting point for the relief run and a route for both the 5k and half marathon options, at Spoken Bicycles in Middletown Ohio, Pictured above.

The Relief Run raised over 1 million dollars with over 18,000 registrants. These runners came from all over the world, 76 different countries! Great Job Runners!

“As the weekend comes to a close, the legs might be a bit sore but our hearts are VERY full with 18,500+ people from 76 countries all over the world running to get our fundraising tally to over $1,064,000!!!! 100% of these proceeds are going to Red Cross AU and we couldn’t have done it without each and every one your generous contributions.” -Samantha Gash