All I can say is, wow!
The response to yesterday’s blog post about the Dirty Girl Mud Run has been astonishing.
What started out as a post about an event that drew 8,000 women to run an obstacle course through the mud to raise money and awareness to breast cancer seems to have taken on a life of its own, with hundreds of comments on the blog and on Facebook.
As was pointed out in the blog post, the entrepreneurs behind the Dirty Girl Mud Run put on an event that brings thousands of women together for a day of fun, bonding and fellowship. At the same time, they pledge to donate at least 2.5% of the registration fees to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
After presenting the information, I asked for your thoughts on whether the 2.5% contribution is enough.
You can see all the comments by going to the original post, but those looking for the Readers Digest condensed version can get a sense of what people are thinking in these comments:
Right when you signed up for the event, it stated 2% and I was aware of that and hesitated, but then thought about the friendships, empowerment, and fun that I made and had that day.
It was worth every cent, just to spend the day with other men/women who have fought and survived breast cancer, including my father. Any amount of money towards research should be appreciated.
I had no idea it was such a small portion donated! I know so many women that participated because of the cancer awareness research.
The event was totally AWESOME no doubt about that and I was proud to be part of such an AWESOME cause and event. However the 2.5 % of money that, was actually donated to cancer research or awareness, is without a doubt sickening and unjustifiable to me.
Whatever your thoughts are, one thing is for certain – the women who participated all had a great time and based on their reactions would do it again. I don’t think there’s a person among us, including myself, who wouldn’t want to see a tad bit more of the profit go towards breast cancer research. But as I pointed out yesterday, the folks behind the Dirty Girl Mud Run are a for-profit business that just happens to have a business model that ties a cause and a benefactor to its promotion.
At the end of the day, regardless of which side of the fence we sit on, we can be happy that at least “something” goes toward finding a cure for breast cancer that claimed the lives of so many friends and family members – including my mother.