Feel-Good Marketing Friday: Chatham-Kent Amazing Race

If you’ve ever had the opportunity to watch The Amazing Race on CBS, you’ll know that the competition is designed to challenge participants both physically and mentally. By the end of the contest, one team will remain to take home a purse of one million dollars. The show has become one of the most popular reality television programs of the past decade, and for good reason. The challenges are tough, the participants are ruthless, and the rewards are great. If ever there was a game to emulate locally, The Amazing Race is it! This past week marked the 5th Annual Chatham-Kent Amazing Race for the United Way, and today the race is featured as CIK’s Feel-Good Marketing Friday event.

Racing For a Great Cause

A total of 37 teams, the majority of which represented local businesses, participated in this year’s race, raising more than $110,000 for the United Way. Participants were required to perform different challenges throughout the municipality, including stops at the Mitchell’s Bay Marine Park, Parks Blueberries, the C.M. Wilson Conservation Area, and Erickson Arena. Challenges ranged from the ridiculous (sliding face first down a gigantic slip-and-slide), to the stomach-churning (the always exciting food challenge), as teams raced towards the finish. The winners, were a team named Jolted Java, consisting of Paula Grail and Tomo Matesic.

Hard Work and Tons of Fun

Kudos to all of the fundraisers, teams, and event organizers for making this year’s Amazing Race event a gigantic success. Each year, the program gets bigger and better, as do the donations. The Amazing Race event is a great example of how communities and small businesses can work together to help support local initiatives. Participating in this sort of event is also a great way to network with like-minded community members in a relaxed environment.  All work and no play make small business owners ornery, so what are you waiting for? Register to participate in a similar event in your community, or , if one doesn’t exist, why not spearhead the initiative to get one started? Your business will benefit from being associated with the event, and a local charity will be more than happy to help you get the ball rolling.

For more information on this year’s Amazing Race event, contact Veronica McCloskey by phone at the United Way, 519-354-0430.