RSBC’s fundraising has gone global for this year’s marathon, with one runner raising a huge £6,500!
Sean, from St. Louis in the USA, heard about RSBC from past American runners from Chicago who had recommended RSBC as a great charity to run for. He’s running the London Marathon in pursuit of the Abbot medal, gained after completing all of the marathon majors.
Having fostered guide dog puppies with his family, sight loss was already a cause close to Sean’s heart, and as a parent he has always supported children’s causes.
Fitness fundraising
To raise funds for RSBC, Sean decided to hold a charity workout class with 36 spaces at the local Orangetheory fitness studio where he coaches part time.
The class was free to join, but participants committed to donate at least $1 per ‘Splat Point’ they earned during the workout. Splat points are a point for every minute that someone spends in the orange or red heart rate zone, a metric used at the fitness studio during workouts. The group set themselves an ambitious goal – to reach 1000 splat points in the 90-minute workout!
“The team turned up and were SO ready to go – I’d selected one of the most insane and challenging templates for the workout,” Sean tells us.
To motivate everyone, Sean hung posters around the studio of some of the children RSBC supports, along with the ‘Life Without Limits’ message in front of them on the tread mills. “I wanted to give them something to focus on and the reasons WHY they were there.”
60 minutes into the workout the team had already surpassed their 1000 splat point goal, and by the end of the 90 minutes, they had reached over 1500 splat points!
As well as the $1 per splat point contribution, participants in the class made additional donations and some had also been sponsored by friends and family. Together they raised a whopping $4500. Together with the matched amount from his employer, Dell, it took them to a total of $9000 (approximately £6500)!
Thank you so much to Sean and everyone who contributed to this amazing fundraising effort. Your support makes a huge difference to the blind and partially sighted children RSBC works with. Good luck next week Sean, we will all be cheering you on!