WORLD  RUN  DAY

The Event's Intent - 1999

We all share a special camaraderie with health, fitness, and fun! If there were ever a day reserved for runners, what would it be? What would it do? Who would hold it?

My idea was to have a day where every runner, everywhere, on one special day could run. It would certainly be an extraordinary event! There’s been Earth Day, Hands Across America, and many others. So why not World Run Day? Maybe we would even have event t-shirts! Okay, okay, maybe we don’t need another t-shirt, but we thought we'd try anyway.

When I thought of this event, I envisioned the "power of runners". What a force we could be, I imagined, if we all joined together for one day! I was convinced the event would be a sure hit! With the right PR we could get countless runners world-wide! It occurred to me, as an afterthought, that if every runner just gave a little bit to charity the sum total could be quite impressive. More appropriately: spectacular! But which charity would be selected? My rule was simple: Let the runner decide. Charity is a personal choice. And especially in foreign countries..... with a summer of Kosovo, the earthquake in Turkey, Hurricanes, Floods, Indonesia, etc, etc, there were plenty of cause-based charities to choose from. All extremely worthwhile. It seemed each new week brought with it a news-breaking and justifiable cause. Some were across the world; while others appeared overnight right on our doorsteps. 

The basic premise was pretty simple: just be a humanitarian; donate any amount to a charitable cause. Even just a dollar! If I weren’t a veteran runner, the event may have been called "World Charity Day". But I'm a runner - and pretty proud of that. 

Furthermore, I felt that the concept of people embarking on a new running program or existing runners posting their time on the Internet to compare progress year after year seemed rather appealing. I personally think we get better with age!

Others may like to compare how they match up with other runners in different parts of the world on one special day. The Internet could make it one huge "e-run". 

And finally, choosing the day. If you were to choose one day of the year for everyone to run, what day would it be? What day would  represent World Run Day? For me, the first week in November has a particularly special meaning, part of that being the New York City Marathon. Some may select the Boston Marathon for historical importance. Others may choose Comrades or even Bay to Breakers. A "local 5K" is a favorite day for many runners. I felt compelled to e-mail the NYRRC to see if they would for any reason object to "sharing" the day . Others have events on this day and good luck was the general response. There are numerous running events on the first week in November. World Run Day suggests that you can run in any one of them, or even create your own, with others or yourself.

Finally, who would host the event? I wanted to guide it but sought out sponsorship from the big international players.  I read a few sponsorship books, and proposed a network of Internet runners that would assist. Sponsorship dollars would go toward purchase of magazine, newspaper, radio, and TV ads. That's all I wanted. Those ads and others can be costly. It was June 99 and time was of the essence. I kept at it to realize in July that, as remarkable as it may seem, the best sponsors I could get were the runners around the world. My high school running coach once taught me: "Pursuit & Perseverance". I’ve made great contacts and friends all over the world. They help translate the World Run Day message at www.runday.com, assist in the manufacturing of t-shirts, answer telephone calls from the Empire State Building - in just one of the great cities of this world. Most importantly they believe in the concept. I’m not claiming to have discovered "motherhood and apple pie" here, but I will not shy away from two ideals that I feel are the most important to me and hopefully to others: Health and Humanity.

So, if you read this document please pass it on to someone who may be interested. Like you, they may have a desire to be part of a great event!  If people print out World Run Day literature similar to this and post their own imaginative creations we can create a grand event. Recently, an Italian on the islands of Cape Verde (West Coast of Africa) posted home-made pamphlets "all around the island". Whether it’s enthusiasm for running, or fondness for charitable causes, he deserves special praise.

I’m not embarrassed to admit that I’m no marketing genius. I was compelled to carry this on and see what it brings in it’s first year.

The seeds of the event were cast in 1999 and hopefully others can see the vision with us.

There’s more to tell, but it’s time to ask.... Don’t you think it’s a good idea? Ask a friend if you're not really sure.... 

As for me, the phone conversations, e-mails, proposals, and general contact with runners and racers  over the world once again proves to me that runners and fitness enthusiasts are a special breed. Won’t you please join us.....

Bill McDermott

"A Runner"