| Dane Rauschenberg | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 31, 1976 |
| Known for | Charity marathon runner |
Dane Rauschenberg (born May 31, 1976) is an American long-distance runner who ran 52 marathons, one every weekend, throughout 2006.[1] He raised over $43,000 for charity, as part of an effort he called "Fiddy2".[1][2][3][4]
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Rauschenberg graduated from Penn State University.[5]
Leading up to Rauschenberg's 2006 effort, he ran a few marathons as a middle-of-the-pack runner. Rauschenberg first marathon was the Harrisburg Marathon in 2001, which he finished in a time of 4:12:07, 159th overall of 281 finishers.[6] Rauschenberg next ran the 2004 Marine Corps Marathon in 3:31:13, in 685th place.[7] Three weeks after the Marine Corps event, Rauschenberg ran another marathon in Maryland, dropping his personal best by 10 minutes.
Before 2006, some runners tried to see how many marathons they could run on consecutive weekends. For example, Richard Worley had run a marathon on each of 159 consecutive weekends, with his times averaging around 5 hours per marathon.[8] Others attempted to see how many different marathons could be completed within a single calendar year, with some runners reaching 90.[9] With this background, Rauschenberg decided in April 2005 goal of running 52 marathons on consecutive weekends during calendar year 2006. However, his enterprise competed for public attention with at least three other contemporaneous efforts, two of which involved running 50 marathons on 50 consecutive days.[10][11]
Rauschenberg called his effort "Fiddy2," which in the initial planning stages, did not have a charity fund raising component. After contacting the First Light Marathon in Mobile, Alabama in the year prior to running the 52 Marathons, Dane selected its beneficiary, the Mobile chapter of L'Arche, to be the recipient of his efforts.[3][12][13] Rauschenberg obtained partial assistance for his effort in the form of race entry fee waivers, free meals from a local restaurant, free running shoes, and a free website.[3][14] Despite his making many funding requests, Rauschenberg reports that he did not obtain monetary donations to offset Fiddy2's costs, and estimated that total travel expenses related to the effort would be $20,000.[12][15][16] Rauschenberg sent out weekly press releases in an attempt to promote the fundraising effort, submitted blog postings, and sought speaking invitations. As a result, Rauschenberg spoke at marathon events throughout the year and was featured as a runner on race's websites and various blogs.[15][17] Rauschenberg sought radio, television, and print coverage and he called attention to the fundraising marathon project with a website and blog.
During the project, he ran marathons in Alaska, the Cayman Islands, and three in Canada.[18]
Late in the year, to preserve his streak of marathons, Rauschenberg organized the Drake Well Marathon consisting of 105.5 laps around his hometown's high school track, as he was not aware of any other certified race scheduled for the Christmas weekend at the time.[16] The race was limited to 25 runners, with 21 runners from nine states participating, and was the penultimate event of his effort.[19]
Fiddy2 was one of at least four charity fundraising projects in 2006 that involved a runner running 50 or more marathons during that year.[20][21][22] Rauschenberg ran his 52 consecutive weekly marathons in 2006 with an average time of 3:21:16.[18] In recognition of Rauschenberg's efforts, he was named by the marathonguide.com website (a marathon reference website[23]) as one of the 20 outstanding USA marathon runners for 2006, as part of an effort to recognize those individuals whose participation in multiple marathons "show that marathoning is and can be part of one's regular routine."[24] The 52nd and final race was run on December 31, 2006, with $32,000 raised at that time.[19]
In 2007, Rauschenberg switched his career to race promoting[25] and as a motivational speaker discussing his 52-marathon experience and offering suggestions about running as an aspect of a healthy lifestyle.[26]
In 2010, Rauschenberg ran the American Odyssey Relay, usually a 12 (or 6) person relay covering the 202 miles (325 km) from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C., in the time of 50 hours and 16 minutes by himself.[27][28][29]
