(If you like this blog, please share it. Thanks!)
With 700 signed up, this year’s Run! Geek! Run! set records for participation — and should do the same in raising funds for the Equal Footing Foundation.
They came wearing running club T-shirts and company logos. One group of fun-loving participants even dressed up like Albert Einstein. Whatever their sports gear of choice, the hundreds who came out for this year’s Run! Geek! Run! 8K had a great time on a day when the weather couldn’t have been more perfect.
Held last month, the event is clearly building great momentum. As the high-tech PR agency that founded the event, we’re proud to say that we had 700 registrants for this year’s race – the fifth annual one overall – eclipsing our previous event record of 608!
Apparently, more and more people within the local and business community are realizing that this is a perfect way to spend a Saturday morning: Competing – or just having fun while getting a great workout with friends – along a scenic stretch of the Potomac River in a beautiful fall setting, all for the purpose of raising money for the Equal Footing Foundation.
For the uninitiated, Equal Footing is the charitable arm of the Northern Virginia Technology Council. It seeks to empower local students – many of whom have no technology access at home – through tech education and development programs, while teaching them to serve as leaders within their communities and beyond. Equal Footing’s Computer Clubhouses provide an innovative and safe after-school learning program for these students, who work with adult mentors to explore and develop their potential. In addition to going to the clubhouses, the students take part in robotics tournaments and space camps.
As for the race itself? We clearly get a great mix of “just for fun” runners and some serious athletes. Ryan Witters of Washington, D.C., took the top overall time, finishing the course in 24:57. Barb Fallon Wallace led the women with 29:00. Georgetown Running Club brought home the team-challenge trophy with an average team time of 26:22. (Check here for complete race results.)
On behalf of the race management team at W2 Communications – I want to thank all of our participants, volunteers and race sponsors – AH&T Insurance, Beyond 20, CEA, DC Capital Striders Running Group, Deltek, Evans & Chambers Technology, Gibson Dunn, Houlihan Lokey, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ironistic, LMI, Lockheed Martin, Near Infinity, NVTC, Transformation Systems, Inc., Virginia Tech, National Capital Region and Young Design – for your continued support. We couldn’t do this without you!
We’re paying the last of the bills and calculating our final donation amount – and it looks like we’ll set a record here as well. Believe it or not, we have already set our sights on the 2013 race. Watch our Facebook page, Twitter and website for updates.
Christy Pittman is a senior account executive at W2 Communications.