I’ve just completed my ballot application to run in the 2008 Flora London Marathon. It’s now sitting on my desk, ready to send, and I’m trying hard to stop myself from putting it in the recycling bin instead.

For the last few years, Survival has had a small but dedicated team of runners taking part in the marathon. Named after the Bushmen of Botswana’s word for ‘keep going’, our Saa! Saa! Saa! Marathon Team plays an important part in raising funds for our vital work for tribal peoples.

There are more than 150 million tribal people worldwide, including over 100 uncontacted tribes. Almost all are persecuted relentlessly – they are flooded by dams, wiped out by disease, driven from their homes by logging and mining, and evicted by settlers. However, with the support of people outside, these threats can be averted and tribal peoples can live healthy and secure lives.

Taking part in the marathon is the experience of a lifetime. Unfortunately, the only way to enter the ballot is by obtaining a copy of ‘Marathon News’ and completing the enclosed form (to find your nearest stockist, please go to: http://www.london-marathon.co.uk/site/?pageID=9). When you’ve sent off your entry, fill out the form entitled ‘I want to join the Saa! Saa! Saa! Team and run the Flora London Marathon in 2008’ at http://www.survival-international.org/actnow/marathon to let me know that you’ve entered, and that if you get a place, you’ll be racing to raise vital funds for Survival.

The ballot closes on October 19, 2007, and ballot results come through in November. If you win a place through the ballot, we’ll welcome you to the team with your fundraising pack and Saa! Saa! Saa! Team vest. If you don’t get a place through the ballot, you’ll get a second chance by being considered for one of our Golden Bond places.

Please help me recruit runners for the 2008 Saa! Saa! Saa! Team by telling anyone you think might be interested. The more people who apply through the ballot, the bigger and better our team will be.

Go on. If I can have a go, anyone can. Here’s hoping we’ll be running together for tribal peoples.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 11th, 2007 at 9:19 am and is filed under Act Now. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.