[Boomerjinks]

Earlier this summer I was contacted by the Product & Brand Placement Director of an annual event called the Fireball Run. He told me that the Fireball Run is a 'race' from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Grand Rapids, Michigan, running from September 25th through October 4th, and that he would like to invite me to participate because it has an 80's theme this year. I asked him to tell me more about the event and he sent me the following:

The event is a blend of the Cannonball Run® movies and the Amazing Race® that ultimately helps find missing children in the process. It has been described by our players as a "rolling country club". What's not to like?! By the way, this is an INVITATION ONLY high media event.

On the surface the Fireball Run is a live action interactive transcontinental game - it is NOT a race. However, we do have 5 track days scheduled - 2 road courses, 2 autocrosses, and a drag session. Points are awarded based on performance. The winner of the event has the most points total. Competitors drive their vehicles from one side of the country to the other over a 9 day period. Each morning teams receive a unique set of instructions; a mission that they must accomplish in order to get points, locate the days finish line, and reception.

The Mission is to aid in an effort to locate the assigned child by distributing posters to all those they encounter along the 3500 mile journey. The Race to Recover America’s Missing Children is an awareness campaign to support the Child Rescue Network, a Florida based not for profit organization. It is, in fact, the country’s longest and largest recovery effort for missing and abducted children. To date, 21 children have been reunited with thier families thanks to our efforts.

Teams also compete against each other in a series of time trialed events held on closed course race tracks. The event is safety sanctioned by COMMA (Competition Motorsports Association) Both clues and missions are designed by brand and city partners to maximize the event’s impact. Check out the messages from the respective mayors of Baton Rouge, our starting line and Grand Rapids, our finish line.

The thing that blew my mind about this is that I, and by extension we, were invited to this thing. Right now I am just settling into a new town, jobless, degreeless, and (let's face it) an uber nerd. My car is a ridiculously average stock Subaru Outback with a bunch of crap stuck onto it, and I've been asked to bring it and compete against the likes of:





Oh my god! Remember in my earlier threads when I see all the incredible crap that has happened to me since I built this goofy car and my mind just boggles? Well, this is one of those moments.

And it certainly doesn't help my brain at all to know that the entry fee for this race is $20,000. This includes the hotels, food, a fireproof racing suit, certified helmet, racing training, and a ton of other stuff that is simply too ludicrous to mention. $20,000, that is roughly what I was making each year up until recently! I asked Mike (the director) about all this, stating that I was simply not in the social bracket to be throwing that kind of money into a road trip. He replied saying all the fees would be waived, as I would be a media entry and gain sponsorship through the event itself.

HOLY CRAP! So, after some calculations and weighing how incredible of an experience this might be versus the effort it would take to go through with it, I am going to try. By my best estimates, the fuel needed to get my, my team, and the Ecto from Denver to Louisiana, then up to Michigan and back to Denver would cost about $1,000. This was far less than what I thought it would cost, and I figure I can get some large local companies to sponsor the car for the trip. Starting tomorrow I will be calling local newspapers, radio stations, and corporations headquartered in Colorado to see if they would like to put their logo on the side of the Ecto for the race. The car will look like a total sellout-mobile when I'm done with it, but sponsorship is the only way I can participate in this rally.

Hopefully by mid-September my car will look like this:

Reminds me a bit of the Xterra from ROTGB, yeah?

Anyway, I've already spoken with AJ about this, and I would really like to involve the GB community with this project as much as possible. It sort of meshes well with the Amazing GBFans Relay idea, so I'd like to work within that framework. I am allowed to have two people on my team, we each take turns driving and we all do the challenges and charity work. I have invited AJ to be one team member, and I would like another person who is a prominent figure in the online community to join in as well. However, the rules state that no team member may be under the age of 25 for insurance purposes, so this idea might not fly at all, even excluding myself from the race. I'll have to ask Mike about it.

At any rate, the race will be passing through a TON of cities and towns, and I think it would be awesome to meet up with users in any capacity available. I still have to ask about a lot of the rules, but it would be fun to meet up and hand out fliers in costume (hey, it would be close to Halloween season so it wouldn't feel that awkward), and if possible I would love to invite local users to the receptions. I'd bring my camera equipment with the hopes of making a giant GBfans.com documentary video of awesomeness, too.

Another logistical problem and one of the main reasons I am posting this is because it would be totally awesome if my team could circumvent the cost of hotel rooms on the journey to and from the race. What I am asking is (ahem) would any of you fine ghostheads be willing to donate your sofas and living room floors to my team? Below is a map of the theoretical route we'd be taking to and from the race, I know a bunch of people who were interested in Relay are along those routes.

So, if you're along those lines and would be interested in helping out the team, lemme know!

A lot of this is up in the air right now, and I hope to get all the details ironed out this week. Stay tuned for more updates.

[minnesotaghost]

I would love to help you out boom, BUT I am nowhere near your route. The one thing I know for sure is that I would kick in some cash for you.

[Boomerjinks]

Aw f***. Just got an e-mail back from Mike. He says that the team captain must either be a business owner or AT LEAST 25. Also, I would still have to pay the entry fee of $4,000 to register my team, in addition to fuel costs of getting there and all that.

If I could raise $5,000, by myself, I'd just donate it straight to the cause instead of spending it goofing around hotels.

At least, I think that's what I'd do.

Consider this train of thought over.

[AJ Quick]

That sucks.

Why would they pull your leg like that?

[Boomerjinks]

No idea, I think it was just miscommunication and all that. Feh.

It's still a possibility, it would just be balls hard to raise that much so soon.

[minnesotaghost]

That sucks to hear, boom.