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The Seattle 100 FAQ: |
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The Seattle 100: Racing Towards a Cure For Kidney Disease… The 5th annual Seattle 100 will take place on Saturday, July 29, 2006 from approximately 8am to 7pm at Pacific Raceway’s road course (formerly Seattle International Raceway, in Auburn WA). The purpose of the event is to raise money for The NephCure Foundation (www.nephcure.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to the cause and cure of glomerular kidney disease, and the only organization of its kind anywhere in the world. Officially, Seattle 100 riders start riding at 9am and the finish time of our event will be 5pm. At 5pm we ask all participants to join us at the Green River Community College Conference Center for the cocktail hour, dinner, auction (MC'd by comedian David Alan Grier), and the presentation of awards from 5pm - 7pm. All participants will be bused from the pit area of Pacific Raceways to the college, which is only 5 minutes away, in ultra luxury custom coaches provided by MTR Western. Security will be on hand to secure the pit area while participants are away at the event. Guests and riders are also free to drive themselves to Green River College if they wish. The Seattle 100: Is it a race? The Seattle 100 is not a race. It's a road course "endurance event" for charity, with event riders attempting to complete as many laps as they can around the course by our lap deadline. While past Seattle 100 events had a goal of completing 100 laps by day's end, this is no longer the focus of the Seattle 100: instead, we want participants to ride at their own pace, have fun, and stay safe. Nobody wins any prizes for crossing a finish line, or completing a full 100 laps, so we encourage riders to just have fun and play it safe during this very special day for many. Why isn’t the Seattle 100 a race? We don't want anyone to be pushing their limits and then go down, potentially experiencing serious injury with NephCure’s name behind the crash. How fast will riders be going? Speeds will vary depending on which of the three groups you ride in, what kind of experience you have, what kind of bike you’re on, etc. If participants want to go as fast as they can on the day of the 5th Annual Seattle 100, great. All we ask is that participants ride at no more than about 80% of their ability, instead of 100%. This allows Seattle 100 riders to ride at decent speeds and do respectable lap times, while still having room for error. We absolutely do not want anyone to experience an accident, and will caution riders who appear to be pushing too hard. It should be noted that 2Fast will still conduct its track day operations as usual, with three 20 minute sessions divided amongst three levels of riders. For those who are concerned about their experience levels, the ability of their bike, etc – there is no need to worry. 2Fast will still be operating it's usual controlled track day with safety in mind, making sure that riders of similar ability levels are grouped together with other riders of the same ability. We will not have a free-for-all out on the track, nor will we allow fast riders to intermix with slower paced riders. How many riders are you expecting in this year's Seattle 100, and will your school be included in The Seattle 100? The 2007 Seattle 100 is expecting approximately 30 riders in each of three sessions, a very manageable amount of riders on the track. In other words, we're seeking 100 riders total for the event. While our school and track days typically operate simultaneously during the season, the Seattle 100 will be quite different. We will NOT be teaching our school on this event date, and our focus at this particular event will be on having a great time with the rest of you… just like we did in last year’s event. We’ll be focused on riding and hanging out with the celebrity racers joining us… but it’s also about the cause, and doing good on behalf of others. How much does it cost to participate in the Seattle 100? Participation in this year’s Seattle 100, like every year, is TOTALLY FREE. That’s right… PARTICIPANTS IN THE SEATTLE 100 RIDE FOR FREE. The day is on us. However, we are making the event free to Seattle 100 participants (and participants only) for a reason: we need Seattle 100 riders to help us raise donations. We can’t just give away these spots; we truly need riders (100 total preferred, all experience levels, just about any kind of bike) who will commit to a minimum level of fundraising for the event, and show up with their funds collected and paid. Yep, collected by the rider, and in their hands at 2Fast’s registration on the morning of July 28th. Here are our requirements to reserve your place in the Seattle 100: * Register online using our website (see registration page) * Arrive at the event with ALL paid and collected donations of $500 or more, to be collected at registration the morning of the event. What if I want to ride in the Seattle 100, but show up on July 28th with an amount less than $500 to contribute? We respectfully ask that you not reserve a place in the 100 if you feel you can’t raise $500 in collected funds from friends, family, associates, etc. We only have 100 places available for July 28th, and want to reserve each space in this FREE and very special event for those who can help us meet our fundraising goal. We’re not trying to be difficult about this, we just need people to respect that alot of hard work and time has gone into making this event happen. Furthermore, we feel that the event alone – including the attendance of celeb stars like Josh Hayes and others, the food costs and catering, the freebies we’ll be giving out, etc – are alone worth $500. Just ask anyone who attended last year! So, if you’ve only raised $300, and are short by $200… consider paying the difference on your own as a tax deductible contribution... or please refrain from signing up. We need every dollar from every one of 100 riders. My friends and I would like to attend, but we want to ride as a team and together we can collect $500. Is this OK? Unfortunately not. Each team member is taking up a valuable spot in the event; thus, we ask that each team member adhere to the $500 minimum donations rule, and register individually as if they were riding solo. Why can’t I collect the money after the event? Great question. We’re actually trying to defeat a problem we had with a prior year's event, and here’s what the problem was: riders got their friends, family, buddies at work, etc. to sign up for per lap pledges, and came to the event saying they had raised X dollars in donations. But after the event, a significant portion of those dollars never got collected. With the event being free, we can’t allow this to happen. For this reason, we’re asking riders to collect EVERY DOLLAR AND DONATION PRIOR TO THE EVENT. New for this year, Nepchure has created a website where you can configure your own area for online donations. This makes it very easy to receive donations from those people you are soliciting donations from. And last year, the collection of pledges and donations prior to the event seemed to be no problem whatsoever for our riders. Not a single one of them complained of this being an issue. If you are collecting per lap pledges, collect the pledges based on your completion of 100 laps. Better yet, ask people instead to make a fixed donation towards your ride… like a flat $50, $100, $1000 dollars, whatever, instead of a per-lap contribution. The flat donation erases the problem of having to base the contribution on not-yet-completed laps. Most people are happy to pay prior to the event: these people are usually good friends who know you, trust you, are related to you, or work with you. Explain to them why you need to collect the funds in advance. How do my donors make their donations online, paying with a credit card or a Paypal account? Nepchure has created a website where each rider can configure their own area for online donations, accept credit card donations, and track their donations. Riders can also see who has paid versus who hasn't. This makes it very easy to receive and track donations from those people you are soliciting donations from. To set up the page, it could hardly be easier: click here. How exactly are riders raising the $500 in minimum collected funds for this event? Each participant can seek donations for their participation in the Seattle 100 from friends, family, neighbors, their employer, business associates, their employer matching contribution plans, etc. They can contribute their own funds as well against the $500. Some are calling their clients, their favorite vendors, their teammates, and people outside of their immediate circles for help. Others may not raise a single dime: they’ll simply cut a check for $500 from their own checkbook just to be a part of the day. After all, how often do we each get the chance to ride with guys like Josh Hayes and Danny Eslick? For many of us, this will be the opportunity of a lifetime to ride and learn from some of the world’s best. For those who would like a gauge to work with, last year’s average amount of pledges by participants was roughly $850. Several raised over $3000 each, one collected $5,000 (Brett Hutton) and our top contributor raised nearly $10,000 (Corey Rastetter). Most found it easy to approach others about the event, and solicit $50 or $100, especially given the unique nature of this fundraiser: this isn’t your average golf tournament or silent auction! For 9 out of 10 people, finding 5 people who can contribute $100 each is not only possible, but rather easy to accomplish. The hardest part is simply asking, and remember – people are rarely offended that you asked, it’s all a matter of HOW you asked. Furthermore, it helps to know that all contributions payable to The NephCure Foundation are tax deductible and qualify as 501c3 IRS approved contributions to a qualified not-for-profit organization. Most corporate match programs recognize The NephCure Foundation as a qualified organization for their plan, and the same is true with United Way. How can a person learn more about The NephCure Foundation? The best way to learn about NephCure is to visit the NephCure website at www.nephcure.org. Everything you would ever want to know about glomerular kidney disease and The NephCure Foundation can be found on NephCure’s website. As Director of The Seattle 100, how did Brian and 2Fast get involved with The NephCure Foundation? Why this particular cause, and this particular not-for-profit organization? Brian Orton co-founded The NephCure Foundation in 1999/2000 with another parent on the East coast, and currently holds the position of Vice President within the organization. Brian started the foundation (his son was diagnosed with Nephrotic Syndrome in 1999) because he and the other parent were frustrated by the lack of research taking place in the disease their children were struggling with. Secondly, they were tired of the politics and lack of focus of other kidney-specific organizations related to glomerular kidney disease. Thus, they started their own organization, with their own money, resources, and time… and that grassroot effort several years ago provided the foundation for NephCure and what it has become today, the only organization of its kind anywhere in the world. I want in. Can I participate in the Seattle 100? What do I do to reserve a place? Last year was such a hit that spots are filling up quickly, and we suggest you and your riding buddies register immediately if you’d like your places in the Seattle 100. So please begin by inviting a few friends to join you, and then register online in our registrations area. Then, upon the time you are officially registered, you will receive a confirmation from 2Fast with further instructions, including downloadable documents that include a donations tracking sheet, a printable color flyer to give out to friends and family, plus more. |
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©2003 2Fast, LLC |
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©2007 2Fast, LLC. All rights reserved |
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