North Pole Marathon Contest
I had been personally approached by Steve Outing, the founder of the Enthusiast Group, via e-mail to consider making a post about a new site that they created, YourRunning.com, and the fact that they were going to have a contest for an entry to the North Pole Marathon.
"We made it clear in the rules that the person we pick wouldn't necessarily be the strongest runner," said Outing. "We're looking for someone who can do a good job of writing about and sharing their experience with the running community, and be good at letting their readers know about the polar/global warming issues -- which was the genesis of this thing in the first place."
I applied, but I figured I had a snowball's chance in hell of winning.
One evening this week while in Vancouver, I had checked Dane Rauschenberg's Fiddy2 site, saw that he was entered and realized that if they were looking to be able to capture national media attention (which why wouldn't they) that there were no way that I would be so lucky. (I've communicated via e-mail with Rauschenberg. He's a good guy and a Penn State grad. If he wins, he should take a cardboard cutout of JoePa with him to the North Pole!)
My wife had a phone call this afternoon from somebody who found out that I had put in for it and that I should send an e-mail and get people to post comments in support of me. Why? Because the individual wanted to see me win it!
I thought about it for a second and I thought, "You know. That isn't me."
It didn't discredit the person's desire to see me win at all, but that is just something that I won't do. It is one of the reasons why I admire those that have the ability to fund raise and nail down sponsorships, etc. I'm very, very careful about who I ask what for. Why? Because I'm concerned about what I'm able to deliver and I've failed in this regard in the past. (Not that I ever took money and wasn't able to deliver ... just even the asking part.)
I wondered though how the person found out that I had entered because I didn't remember saying anything to anyone.
I went to the YourRunning.com site and soon realized that my application, along with everyone else that applied, had been made public.
While I understood that there were a lot of public requirements with winning, nothing in their rules stated that the application would be made public. I wrote Steve Outing immediately.
> Steve,
>
> Please remove my entry from the North Pole Marathon contest.
>
> I just had a phone call from somebody who posted some nice things to say
> about me and informed that the way to have a chance to win was to "send an
> e-mail to everyone and get them to comment on the site."
>
> I won't do that and had I known that my application would have been publicly
> posted, I wouldn't have applied.
>
> Doing so against the caliber of runners that have applied makes me look
> foolish.
>
> Jon Walk
> Spring, Texas
Can you see them picking me over Chuck Engle, Dane Rauschenberg, Russell Secker from Austin or good friend Duncan Larkin from southeast Pennsylvania?
If they did, they'd be ridiculed and rightfully so.
He responded back, removed my entry (although he didn't delete it in case I reconsidered ... no worries, I'm not going to) and was steadfast about what they were looking for.
The bottom line is this: It is about exposure for their company and web site(s)! One doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to figure this out. They're looking for Runners' World and Running Times type attention - and an Engle or a Rauschenberg can deliver that for them.
I actually wrote Chuck, Dane and Duncan this afternoon and wished them the best.
I wanted you all to have the scoop first-hand before it was spoken by someone that would have commented to others that I must have thought a lot of myself to think that I had the gall to actually believe that I could have won.
"We made it clear in the rules that the person we pick wouldn't necessarily be the strongest runner," said Outing. "We're looking for someone who can do a good job of writing about and sharing their experience with the running community, and be good at letting their readers know about the polar/global warming issues -- which was the genesis of this thing in the first place."
I applied, but I figured I had a snowball's chance in hell of winning.
One evening this week while in Vancouver, I had checked Dane Rauschenberg's Fiddy2 site, saw that he was entered and realized that if they were looking to be able to capture national media attention (which why wouldn't they) that there were no way that I would be so lucky. (I've communicated via e-mail with Rauschenberg. He's a good guy and a Penn State grad. If he wins, he should take a cardboard cutout of JoePa with him to the North Pole!)
My wife had a phone call this afternoon from somebody who found out that I had put in for it and that I should send an e-mail and get people to post comments in support of me. Why? Because the individual wanted to see me win it!
I thought about it for a second and I thought, "You know. That isn't me."
It didn't discredit the person's desire to see me win at all, but that is just something that I won't do. It is one of the reasons why I admire those that have the ability to fund raise and nail down sponsorships, etc. I'm very, very careful about who I ask what for. Why? Because I'm concerned about what I'm able to deliver and I've failed in this regard in the past. (Not that I ever took money and wasn't able to deliver ... just even the asking part.)
I wondered though how the person found out that I had entered because I didn't remember saying anything to anyone.
I went to the YourRunning.com site and soon realized that my application, along with everyone else that applied, had been made public.
While I understood that there were a lot of public requirements with winning, nothing in their rules stated that the application would be made public. I wrote Steve Outing immediately.
> Steve,
>
> Please remove my entry from the North Pole Marathon contest.
>
> I just had a phone call from somebody who posted some nice things to say
> about me and informed that the way to have a chance to win was to "send an
> e-mail to everyone and get them to comment on the site."
>
> I won't do that and had I known that my application would have been publicly
> posted, I wouldn't have applied.
>
> Doing so against the caliber of runners that have applied makes me look
> foolish.
>
> Jon Walk
> Spring, Texas
Can you see them picking me over Chuck Engle, Dane Rauschenberg, Russell Secker from Austin or good friend Duncan Larkin from southeast Pennsylvania?
If they did, they'd be ridiculed and rightfully so.
He responded back, removed my entry (although he didn't delete it in case I reconsidered ... no worries, I'm not going to) and was steadfast about what they were looking for.
The bottom line is this: It is about exposure for their company and web site(s)! One doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to figure this out. They're looking for Runners' World and Running Times type attention - and an Engle or a Rauschenberg can deliver that for them.
I actually wrote Chuck, Dane and Duncan this afternoon and wished them the best.
I wanted you all to have the scoop first-hand before it was spoken by someone that would have commented to others that I must have thought a lot of myself to think that I had the gall to actually believe that I could have won.
posted by WalkSports.com | 11:04 PM
8 Comments:
Jon, I was slightly caught off guard by the posting of the applications. I agree with you that they will certainly select Chuck Engle, Dane Rauschenberg or an elite level athlete over average runners like us. I do not think anyone would consider you arrogant or foolish for submitting your application. (The courage to enter and to actually go through with the race if chosen is admirable) I think a headline of "Man eaten by polar bear in marathon" would create more exposure for their company and web site than "Elite runner wins marathon"
Jerry H.
If you were interested, you were right to apply. You can't spend all your time worrying about what others will think, or what they assume you think of yourself.
Anyway, that's my 2 cents. I certainly wouldn't have thought anything bad about it.
Sure, I was interested, but I wasn't interested in having my application revealed publicly.
everything there was 100% verifiable, if they chose to do so (with the names and e-mail addresses that people might not have wanted to be known in public).
I was certain that they'd get the high caliber folks that they did, but my plans included only me knowing that I had put in for it - not everybody else.
It was like me having to be at the starting line of the LP Run with Armenteros (and hoping that he didn't lap me on the first lap!)
I think you are very talented. How fast we run isn’t the only measure. There are not many who can do what you do racking up the race count and all of them good efforts. I was hoping they would pick you…partly so I could say I knew a person who will run Antarctica ( Tony in 2008 ) and the North Pole ( you ).
(I do agree that they should not make your application public without your knowledge)
Somehow, you would've found a race in Moscow to run while you were waiting for the trip to the Pole.
Marketing cyborgs are the types they're looking for. It's all about them.
You'll survive without the Pole race. There, there, it's alright.
Jon: I'm sorry that you were surprised at seeing your application on the YourRunning.com website. While the official contest rules included language allowing us to post entrants' submissions, we should have made that more prominent. We'll be more obvious about that next time.
Actually, we initially hadn't planned to post entries publicly, but when we saw the quality of the entries submitted and the amazing stories that runners were sharing -- including yours -- we decided it made sense to share them. The stories were just too special to keep to ourselves. The folks entering our little contest are incredible, and frankly I'm worried about choosing the winner. We'll no doubt pick a great person for this, but we'll also disappoint a bunch of overly worthy candidates.
As I said in my private e-mail to you, the winner of the trip to the North Pole to run in Brad Feld's case will not necessarily be the strongest runner. We're factoring in the entrants' writing and overall ability to share the experience with the rest of the running world. But running at the pole could be dangerous, so we want to make sure we pick someone who's up to the challenge.
I really have no idea who we'll choose. This is Brad Feld's entry we're giving away, so his opinion on who the winner is will weigh heavily. But he asked not to make the winner selection alone, so the rest of us involved in YourRunning.com will work with him to form a selection committee.
Steve,
Thanks for the reply.
I agree that there are some very, very talented folks out there - much more so than me that are worthy.
As I stated, I didn't expect to win. To me, it was a gamble!
I'm glad that things have taken off for your organization.
You asked me to put something on my blog. I felt you were worthy and did so. I certainly hope that you received a slight benefit from that. If so, that would be flattering. (It is apparent that news of this post got filtered around within a day.)
I've gone back and re-read (as I did before I made this blog post) the "How To Enter" and "Conditions of Entry", I guess I still need to be enlightened on where it says that applications may be published.
I see, "Once submitted, entry cannot be deleted, modified or canceled." So I guess that means I'm still in!
Or "Entries become the property of Sponsor and will not be returned." Yes, but if it would have said, "We're going to post them online," I wouldn't have entered.
As a journalist, if I'm given something "off the record", it is my job to respect that.
As a healthcare professional, I'm legally bound by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) not to disclose private health information (PHI) that can specifically identify an individual.
My point is that I made statements - while true and verifiable - that I never ever thought would be disclosed.
For future contests, yes, I think it should be made VERY clear.
As Jerry stated in the earlier comment, he and I weren't the only ones that were surprised that the entries showed up on the site.
If you had 500 entrants, then it wouldn't have made sense to have sent a courtesy e-mail to say, "We're putting these on the Web. Are there any objections?"
To me, it is about doing the right thing.
No worries though. I'll wake up again tomorrow and continue to attempt to put the best interests of all runners and to recognize them over any personal desires that I have.
And, in fact, I'd do what I do even if nobody was watching.
Thanks,
Jon
Jon,
I would like to take the time to ask you to please reconsider taking your application down. It is people like you who make running what it is (and I sincerely hope I am one of those people). So you aren't as fast as some other people. So what? Besides the one person who holds the world record, EVERYONE on Earth has someone faster than him or her. think about that. What makes you any less deserving than anyone else? Nothing.
If I get selected and you are not on that list it will feel slightly hollow. Like those who succeed against an opponent who is not at their best, I will only truly feel like I am worhty of the trip if I am able to represent all of us runners and "all os us" includes you.
Please resubmit.
Post a Comment
<< Home