‘Run to the Moon‘ is a new campaign launched by running social network, The Running Bug. The team are challenging their members to run the distance to the moon (nearly 240,000 miles) over a seven week period. In aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital children’s charity, the campaign is also headlined by top GB elite runner, Charlotte Purdue.
The aim is to get thousands of UK runners to run 240,000 miles to the moon – and to keep the British public active during the darker days of October and November.
As the Running Bug team point out the distance to the moon is ‘a very long way’. It is 238,857 miles from earth, a distance that if someone decided they wanted to run (at say an average of 7 miles per hour pace), would take them a grand total of 3.9 years!
Billed as ‘the UK’s largest social network for runners’, The Running Bug has decided to encourage members of the British public to keep active and running during the darker days of October and November and collectively run 238,855 miles in just seven weeks. The campaign motto is: ‘Just because the sun’s gone down doesn’t mean we stop running!’
The Running Bug Founder, Joe Mountain said “The Running Bug is all about helping runners of all abilities keep fit, active and healthy whatever the weather or time of year. Run to the Moon is a fantastic challenge and will hopefully motivate our members, and the wider public, to keep running even through the darker months.”
To start logging their miles, runners will be required to either download the new Running Bug – Bugmiles app from the Running Bug website or enter their runs via the Bugmiles page on the Running Bug website. They will be able to view a running total of miles in real-time, which makes it easy for them to identify how far they are collectively off the total target, and also how much ground other runners are covering.
Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity is supporting the challenge along with Elite British long-distance runner Charlotte Purdue. The charity is hoping the event will encourage more runners to take part in some of its many running challenges to help raise vital funds for the hospital.
Senior Fundraising Executive at Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity Gary Bansor said, “We’re delighted to be a part of this fantastic challenge, and hope that it motivates Running Bug members to take part in a running event for the charity. The money raised by our running events helps us to make a real difference to patients and their families from across the UK. We hope everyone really enjoys taking part in this fantastic challenge.”
Charlotte Purdue is also really excited be on-board and she said, “I am really happy to join forces with the Running Bug to help promote this exciting campaign. Run to the Moon is a really great way to help promote the sport of running, especially to those who need a little bit of extra motivation as the cold winter months draw in.”
And to launch the event The Running Bug did a quick recce into space (no really) to check out ‘the course’. The stunning pics you can see are the result!
It is very quick and easy to join the Running Bug community and become a part of this fantastic campaign – visit the Run to the Moon page on the Running Bug website and sign up today.
The Running Bug launched in 2010, offering runners a niche alternative social network to Facebook and Twitter. The site offers a mixture of entertaining and informative content, events, reviews, forums, and social tools such as bugmiles where runners can log and share all their runs.
The Running Bug notes that it is now the second-biggest running site in the UK, experiencing traffic growth of over 150% year on year.
The Running Bug notes that it currently reaches over 250,000 monthly unique visitors who in turn generate around 2 million monthly page views. The site is aimed at the mass market, specifically beginner and regular runners.
