COMRADES 2019 ..... Let's go Viral !!

To celebrate and bring meaning to my 20th consecutive Comrades Marathon in 2019, I'm looking for 1,000 people to donate R20 each (or more?) in aid of World Vision.
World Vision South Africa is one of the official Comrades Marathon charities, and one that we have personally supported for many years.
Organizations that care for children are always special!
As times are tough for most people, I've structured this challenge to only request R20 (or $20 or 20 pounds ?!?), which is only really one litre of petrol or a couple of loaves of bread.... So the real challenge is to find 1,000 people to support this drive. Hence this has to "go viral"!
Just as Comrades is achieved one step at a time - this challenge will be achieved one donation at a time!
Thank-you for reading this - if the idea grabs you then please spread the word to your family, friends and work colleagues!
Let's see how quickly we can get to 1,000 donations! If 100 of us all find 10 friends and family to catch the vision, we'll be there in no time!

How to make your Donation

There are two ways :
1.On my Comrades fundraising page, by credit card :
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE FUNDRAISING PAGE

My fundraising page will appear; click on MAKE A DONATION and follow the instructions.
If you're not keen to use your credit card, you can do an EFT by using the second method below....

2. You may pay by EFT to the Buddy Adverts bank account. Buddy Adverts will transfer your donation to the fundraising account.
Banking Details:
Buddy Adverts, Capitec Bank, Branch No: 470010, Account No: 145 030 7386, Ref: COMRADES
You may use buddy.adverts@gmail.com for the notification if you don't want to enter your email. Please put your name and Comrades as the beneficiary reference.
(NB: EFT only, bank deposits not accepted).
If you use this method but still wish to leave a message on the fundraising page, please email buddy.adverts@gmail.com, giving your name, amount donated and message.

Comrades 2019 details

Comrades 2019, on 9 June 2019, is the 94th edition of the Ultimate Human Race.
It is an Up Run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg, starting at 0530 and the final cut-off is at 1730.
The distance is 86.83km. The race is limited to 25,000 runners.
Full details are available on the Comrades website : www.comrades.com

My training progress so far...

Marathons (42.2km) completed:
4/11/18 - Soweto Marathon 4:32:37 ............... 27/1/19 Johnson Crane Marathon 4:18:37
10/2/19 Jeppe Marathon 4:18:19 .............. 3/3/19 Vaal Marathon - 4:35:34
31/3/19 Jackie Gibson Marathon 4:42:41 ....... 20/4/19 Two Oceans Marathon (56km) 5:50:05 ....
9/6/19 COMRADES MARATHON 11:24:04 ... I survived! Thanks for the prayers, I was pretty sick!

World Vision

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the root causes of poverty and injustice.
Learn more at www.worldvision.co.za

Donations so far

Number of donations
268
Total amount raised R17,700

The donations page is now closed, but donations can still be made via EFT to the Buddy Adverts account (see block on left...)

BUDDY ADVERTS

Buddy Adverts is partnering with us in this challenge, in particular providing the EFT banking opportunity for those who prefer to donate in this way.
Please go to the Home page to read about the vision of Buddy Adverts and how you can place an advert.
Please also invite your home church to become a participating church in Buddy Adverts then we can also help your buddies!

The significance of 20 consecutive Comrades Marathons.....
The year 2000 saw the highest number of entries for the Comrades Marathon, due in large part to the extension of the final cut off time to 12 hours. Of the 24,505 entrants, 8,492 were novices, of which 8,250 actually started the race. 7,921 of these novices completed the race and earned their first Comrades medal, ie 96.0% of the novices who started the race finished before the final cutoff. This compares to 83.7% for the overall field, ie 20,047 runners out of the total 23,961 who started the race finished before the 12 hour cut-off. The class of 2000 was clearly built of sterner stuff than the average runner! In 2001, 3,115 of the year 2000 novices returned to attempt their second medal. As the years went by, fewer and fewer of the year 2000 novices returned to earn ongoing consecutive medals, such that in 2013 only 35 of the original 8,250 novices earned their 14th consecutive medal. In 2014, 33 of these runners started, with 29 earning their 15th medal. In 2015, 27 earned their 16th medal, in 2016, 25 earned their 17th medal, in 2017, 23 earned their 18th medal and in 2018 all 21 who started finished in time to earn their 19th consecutive medal. With entries for the 2019 Comrades Marathon now closed, only 17 of the remaining Year 2000 consecutive finishers have entered; it now remains to be seen if all 17 make it to the start line on 9 June 2019....