My friend Eric is a 50 state marathoner, dad, husband and proud NJ resident. When we worked together in 1999, Eric was training for his first marathon. In April 2012, he finished his 50th state with Massachusetts – the Boston Marathon. Last year, his home was very close to some of the worst hit areas from Hurricane Sandy. He decided to do an impromptu fundraiser on “Black Friday.” He asked friends to consider meeting him at his local track and instead of shopping consider running laps to raise money for local charities. He turned Black Friday into “Track Friday.” His initial goal was to raise $5,000 for local charities to support Sandy victims.
I will let him tell you what happened next:
“As you may recall, in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, I made a deal with friends to raise $5,000 for local charities, and committed to run a marathon on our High School Track if we hit goal. When I first proposed the idea to a few friends, I had no idea of what would come of it — over $22,000 raised in just about three weeks, with 27 old and new friends helping in the effort. With that, a new event, Track Friday, was born.
I am excited to tell you that many of last year’s participants want to do it again. As for me, I’ve decided to do another marathon. Frankly, I’m not in the peak racing shape, and have not run such a long distance since last Track Friday. But I know I can get it done, and with your help and support, I’ll do another 105 laps for The FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties. For every $100 I raise, I will commit to one mile on the track. If I hit my personal $2500 goal, I will throw in the bonus 1.2 miles myself and do the full distance!
This year, the focus expands beyond Sandy. We recognized the potential of the day and are encouraging people to support ANY charity or cause they care about. The day will be measured on the number of people moved to act, not just on the dollars raised.
I am hoping that you will consider supporting this effort again this year. Organizations like the FoodBank are always in need of support, especially around the holidays. Every dollar donated to the FoodBank translates to three meals for people in need.
Please check out my donation page.
If you would like more information about Track Friday message Eric at the Track Friday Facebook page or check out the websites he has put up:
- Official Track Friday Website
- 2013 Team page (check out the other charities we are supporting):
Track Friday FAQs!
What is Track Friday?
Track Friday is a community-based movement to mobilize people to support charitable giving. Participants run laps on a nearby high school track to raise awareness and funds for causes that they care about. Track Friday is held the day after Thanksgiving to encourage people to reunite with old and new friends, burn off some Thanksgiving Day calories, and put a little love and giving spirit back into a day that has unfortunately become synonymous with commercialism.
Track Friday brings together the benefits of a charity team, an athletic event, and a community effort, without any of the pressures of intimidating distances, time clocks, fundraising minimums, travel, or complicated logistics. Participants can support any charity, run any distance, raise any amount, and run or walk on any track, at any time of the day on Track Friday!
Who Does Track Friday Benefit?
Any cause benefits from Track Friday! A cause becomes a beneficiary the moment someone makes a decision to raise money for the cause. Beneficiaries are not required to make any investment of time or resources to participate, because being the beneficiary of someone’s giving spirit should not come at a cost. It’s that simple.
How Do I Support or Donate to Track Friday Efforts?
If you can make it to a publicly-accessible local track, you can participate in Track Friday. We encourage you to sign up and add yourself to the Track Friday team page on Razoo if you plan on doing fundraising.
Track Friday participants are asked not to collect any money themselves, and instead are asked to use web-based giving sites like Razoo, or to refer supporters to the charities’ websites or donation mailing addresses. The exact amount of money raised is not the point, the call to act and make a difference is. While it’s fun to watch the totals on Razoo get higher, it shouldn’t create limitations or distractions to the true purpose of the day.
How Did Track Friday Begin?
Track Friday was born in the wake of Hurricane Sandy when a few friends put together an informal fundraiser to promote direct giving to the recovery efforts. Instead of setting up a fund or collecting money themselves, they simply asked people to make direct donations to causes that they care about, and backed their commitment to the giving spirit by meeting to run laps. The idea spread to six tracks in four states in a matter of a few weeks, and by Track Friday morning, 27 people had a hand in over $22,000 in direct donations to charities helping recovery efforts.
Like Track Friday on Facebook for more information!
I love this idea! We will be out of the country for “Black Friday”, but if there is a track nearby, I will run a few laps in Eric’s honor. I also donated to his effort so he will be running for me, too.
If you like this idea, it is not too late to participate!