It wasn’t long ago we watched the launch of the Tour de France (June 29th to be exact). It also wasn’t long ago we viewed the event as one of the world’s most renowned and respected sporting challenges, a source of pride for the world’s cycling community and a testament to the inspiration many find in those athletes who persevere against that monumental challenge.
That was then. Today, the Tour de France is held on high only by those who worship the sport and by those who refuse to let recent headlines change their views of the athletes taking part. The saga of Lance Armstrong, rampant drug use and the decline of faith in the integrity of professional cycling have brought the sport on hard times. As such, this year’s race is moving along with minimal international fanfare, and while the dedicated loyalists of the cycling community continue to support the event, the casual fan has taken an undeniable pass.
However… if you happen to be a fan of crowdsourcing, you may be following more closely than ever. In fact, you may be financially invested.
Enter Zoe Romano, a runner from Portland, Maine who is currently making history as the first RUNNER to take on the Tour de France. Representing the World Pediatric Program, Zoe started the Tour de France challenge via foot on May 18th with the intent of running an average of 30 miles per day to complete the race in Paris the day before the bikers arrive.
Consider that once more… she’s running MORE than a marathon a day, EVERY DAY, for nine weeks… and she’s running through one of the most grueling athletic journeys imaginable. The Tour de France course is an insane route covering every region of France, pushing over 2,000 miles with elevations changes equal to Mount Everest, THREE TIMES OVER. (If you’d like a more intimate visualization of the challenge, check out Google’s special Street View Guide for the Tour de France).
Zoe will spend over three weeks running through the Pyrenees and Alps, running the width of France twice and the length of the country three times, her journey will be chronicled for a documentary film shot by Alexander Kreher… and the investors of Kickstarter have made it all possible.
Kreher launched a social media campaign to collect support for Zoe’s run in April: a successful Kickstarter campaign, a Facebook page, Zoe’s Twitter account, a WordPress blog, a video blog on Vimeo, all aggregated and distributed via a new sponsored website combined to bring in $6,000 from 128 backers in less than 30 days for the project as well as over $128k to date for the World Pediatric Program.
Zoe is scheduled to reach Paris in a few days (on July 20th). Daily updates are available via many of the sites we mentioned above, and we encourage you to donate to her cause with the World Pediatric Program via the project website (as of today, she’s raised $129k with hopes of reaching $150k for children in need).
Give her a follow, a “Like”, a couple of bucks and your support. Zoe will not only be the first ever to complete the Tour de France on foot… she’s also be the first to do it on the power of social media, and she may be the first to do it on behalf of others.