#TheBigRugbyRun to support Feed The Heroes!

From 10am on Saturday 9 May 2020

#TheBigRugbyRun is a fundraising team virtual relay challenge for current or past teams from rugby clubs, schools or other rugby groups (including supporters clubs, rugby businesses & more) across Ireland.

Feed The Heroes is a fundraising movement that is doing amazing work #fuellingthefrontline through the provision of essential and nutritious meals to Frontline Heroes fighting COVID-19 in Ireland.  To date, they have raised over €1 million from over 18,500 donations, serving nearly 140,000 meals across more than 125 locations around the country.  To get the latest news and more information on how you can support them, visit www.feedtheheroes.com

#TheBigRugbyRun is being organised by Advanced Sporting Potential Limited (registered in Ireland #575120) to support Feed The Heroes.  We are working with existing & new corporate partners for #TheBigRugbyRun Grand Prize Draw, open to all underage teams who participate and raise the minimum team sponsorship target of €50/£50.  #TheBigRugbyRun is free to enter, with 100% of fundraising proceeds going to our Event Charity partner.

We set an initial fundraising target of €2,000 on our GoFundMe page (min €50/£50 per team taking part) BUT we are already well beyond that figure in committed & pledged fundraising for Feed The Heroes, who are doing trojan work feeding the frontline health workers risking so much to fight for all us during the COVID-19 crisis.

It’s simple.  No matter what your connection is to a team signed up for #TheBigRugbyRun, you can quickly and simply donate via our GoFundMe page.  Each team commits to a minimum fundraising target of €50/£50 by signing up to #TheBigRugbyRun and this donation needs to be made by midnight on Friday 8 May.  If it is easier for the members of a team or their supporters to donate separately (rather than collective funds to make a single team donation), just mention your team’s or lead team contact name after making your GoFundMe donation.  For any teams who manage to raise more money after they have paid their €50 minimum fundraising target, #TheBigRugbyRugbyRun Official Campaign GoFundMe page will stay open for 7 days after #TheBigRugbyRun to allow you to make your final donation payments. 

It’s easy – #RunTogetherStayApart. As a team, the challenge is to run the equivalent of a half (21.1km/13 miles) or full (42.2km/26 miles) marathon distance as a relay, with each participant ideally dressed in your team kit, carrying a rugby ball every step of the way. You can have as many or as few relay runners as you want, made up of players, coaches or supporters. On the day, run your leg & tag your teammate/team/club or school/@TheBigRugbyRun on social media to pass your rugby ball as a virtual relay baton!

Complete the form on this page to register your team today and get more details by email, including the #TheBigRugbyRun information pack (also downloadable via the button below).

No.  Only the team registers via the team’s lead contact.  All team participants will have opted into #TheBigRugbyRun Ts&Cs as part of the team registration.  For underage teams, it is important that the lead team contact has made parents/lead guardians of team participants aware of the Ts&Cs here

There is no requirement to update your number of team participants, amount expected to be fundraised or team distance being targeted after registration.  The important aspects are that you are registered to start with & are committed to raising a minimum €50/£50 for Feed The Heroes. We will be in touch after #TheBigRugbyRun takes place on Sat 9 May, to check how your team got on so that we can get a total picture for what #TheBigRugbyRun collectively achieved in terms of participation, fundraising & distance covered

Yes, all participating teams and their members need to strictly adhere to Government social distancing requirements (staying within 5kms of home, only running with others who are self-isolating in the same house etc). For the full #TheBigRugbyRun Ts&Cs, click here.

If it works for your team in terms of numbers and timings, we suggest you agree on a sequential relay order for the team (runner 1, runner 2 etc.), with a pre-10am video call on the day to share likely handover timings and wish the starting runner luck.  Then each runner, when they get to the end of their leg running with their rugby ball, does a selfie video passing the ball to the next runner, tagging the next runner/their club/@TheBigRugbyRun with hashtag #thebigrugbyrun when sharing on social media.  If runners are not on social media or don’t want to share the video, sending it to their friend via their preferred messaging app or simply calling the next runner to start the next leg is fine! 

If circumstances dictate that running sequentially isn’t practical for your team, improvise by either running simultaneously (maybe with a supporter recording a time-lapse video so that the efforts of all the squad can be edited into one final video for posting on social) or in staggered groups, where a smaller number of players run at the same time before ‘passing the ball’ to a pre-agreed teammate, and so on for maybe 4 or 5 legs until the cumulative team distance is achieved. 

Ultimately, there’s no fixed format here – just pick an approach that works for your team, try to record it for posterity and possibly to share on social media during or after #TheBigRugbyRun is completed for your team and most of all, have fun as #TheBigRugbyRun is all about being active as a group again, albeit within 5kms of your home! 

By signing up and donating a minimum of €50/£50 via #TheBigRugbyRun GoFundMe page, each underage club or school team (U10s-U18s based on IRFU regulations here) will qualify to enter our Grand Prize Draw, which will take place the week of 11-18 May. See our Ts&Cs here for further info on the Grand Prize Draw rules. The full list of eight generous partners and their prizes are; 

• Impact Gumshields – free fitting & supply of a set of cutting edge 3D printed Gumshields for a full underage squad for the 2020/21 season
• McDonald’s Ireland – €500/£500 in shopping vouchers for a lucky underage squad to use during 2020/21 season
• The Curragh Racecourse – a VIP day at the races for an underage squad in 2021
• Aviva Stadium – free stadium tour for an underage squad during the 2020/21 season
• STATSports – two state-of-the-art Athlete Series Pods (worth c€250/£220 each) for an underage squad to share/allocate from STATSports, official GPS supplier to the IRFU
• RE:SURE – €500/£500 in shopping vouchers for a lucky underage squad to use during 2020/21 season
• Shadowball Ireland – a new set of Shadowballs (worth min €300 RRP) for a winning underage squad to use to practice their practicing skills at home
• PSA Academies – 5 x 2 scholarship places for the 2020 or 2021 PSA Rugby Academies in Ireland (1 pair per winning underage squad)

Like or follow our social media channels below for all the latest news about the #TheBigRugbyRun campaign, including the many teams with ex or current pro rugby players that have signed up to take part on the day!

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