I know we all see tweets fly by and emails pop up that talk about reserving time on your calendar for something…maybe a webinar, a user group meeting or even SQLRally or the Summit.
This request isn’t all that different; yet it is. You ready?
Open up your calendar, browse to Saturday and block off 7:30 AM CDT to 10:30 AM CDT. Set an alarm to go off 12 hours before, so you’re reminded of it on Friday night. Why?
Because at 7:30 AM Central time on Saturday morning, Jes Borland ( blog | @grrl_geek ) is going to run her first half marathon in Oshkosh, WI. If you’re on Twitter, you can cheer her on from the comfort of your bed, kitchen, daughter’s dance competition, boat, etc. You get my point. All you have to do is tweet something with her Twitter handle (@grrl_geek) and through the magic of technology, she will hear it.
Now, for those of you who are not runners, or have not supported runners in person, this is the coolest thing ever. Runners get up really early for these races. And very often it’s kind of cold. And even though we have lots of friends and family, they don’t all come to the race and line the course to cheer us on at every mile. But through the power of Twitter and some cool app called RunMeter that I’ve never even seen, we can create a virtual cheering section for Jes for the entire race. I love technology.
Oh, and don’t forget to include the race day hash tag for Jes, #runjesrun, in your Tweet! Just in case you’re not following everyone who’s following Jes, you can still keep up with what’s going on by following the hashtag.
Sidebar: if you’re not following Jes already, you should be, and not just because she’s smart about SQL Server…but because she will make you laugh and she will inspire you. Case in point:
Now, I don’t know if Jes is aiming for a time in which she wants to complete this run, but the 3 hour window I’ve given covers the delay between the start of the race and when Jes may cross the starting line, as well as her finish and cool down. You don’t have tweet the entire time, you don’t have to be there at the start, or at the end, just take a moment at some point and let Jes know that you’re thinking about her. Provide inspiration, humor, distraction – whatever moves you.
I have two soccer games on Saturday morning – one for each my kids, starting at 7:30 CDT. I’ll be there, ready to cheer on Jes. Will you?
Erin: this made my day, and quite possibly my week. THANK YOU! For anyone reading this: you have no idea how much the tweets, Facebook comments and dailymile posts help. I’m the only one that can run 13.1 miles with these legs, but your support gets me through. Running really is 90% mental.
I’m adding it to my calendar right now.
Jes, I am sooooo excited for you and so excited to read your post about the race 🙂 You have the support of the entire community, knock it out of the park!
E
Awesome 🙂