It’s been nearly a week, yet we are still flying high from an incredible weekend of fun, work, and very little sleep. RaceMenu sponsored the 5th annual Super Sunday race at its new home in Kendall Square, put on by the volunteering efforts of RACE-Run Against Cancer Events, or RACE 
for short. The event was a huge success; our runners had a blast and we raised thousands of dollars for several charities.
To many, RACE and RaceMenu seem to be one in the same. Occasionally, someone asks about the difference and since we’ve answered it a few times recently, we wanted to share with everyone.
RACE – Run Against Cancer Events is a volunteer driven non-profit organization which produces events to raise funds and awareness for cancer and community organizations.
RaceMenu is a for-profit, Boston based startup which provides software and technology solutions for event organizers.
Both organizations were founded by J. Alain Ferry. RACE in 2007 (as Psyclone Sports) and RaceMenu in 2009. In late 2007, Alain wanted to fight back against the disease that had already taken his father (Jacques) and his dog (Tyson) in addition to other friends. A chance meeting with Jack Fultz, 1976 winner of the Boston Marathon and coach of the Dana Farber Marathon Challenge Team, really put things into motion. While talking over beers at the Landry’s Bicycles Christmas party (about the Patriots undefeated season), Alain asked Jack if he’d support a race on Superbowl Sunday to benefit Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Jack loved the idea and if you’ve ever met him, you know he’s an incredible motivator.Six weeks later, the first annual Super Sunday 5K/10K hosted 331 runners. Later that year, Alain came up with the RACE acronym to go along with the runagainstcancer.org domain which he’d used as a fundraising page for the Boston Marathon. Today, RACE has grown to 5 annual events and will add at least 4 new races in 2012. We have donated over $50,000 to organizations including:
- Dana Farber Cancer Institute
- LIVESTRONG
- Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
- Multiple Myeleloma Research Foundation
- Faulkner Hospital Breast Health Center
- MSPCA Oncology Department
- TargetCancer
- South Boston Neighborhood House
- East Cambridge Little League
- The Cystem
- Hyde Square Task Force
These days, Alain spends more time on RaceMenu, a company which evolved from challenges he faced with the 2nd annual Super Sunday race in 2009. One of the issues is particularly amusing in hindsight: there was a glitch with the registration system which calculated the runners’ age as of December 31st (your “racing age” in cycling events). Imagine the scene: 500 women looking at race results and seeing their age listed a year older. We fixed the results, but Alain declared that day that we’d build our own registration system for the following year.
While on a training ride in Tucson, AZ a few weeks later, Alain and a friend were discussing how Facebook had recently surpassed 150 million users and the potential which existed with Facebook apps. As they rode up Mt. Lemmon, the initial idea for RaceMenu – race calendar and registration via Facebook – came together like the proverbial chocolate and peanut butter. RaceMenu’s Facebook app launched later that spring and the website launched in September 2009. Today, RaceMenu has evolved into a one-stop shop for event organizers and participants to make events more friendly, more fun, and more profitable.
So there you have it: RACE and RaceMenu are separate, but closely connected. It is important for us to give back, and continuing to be involved in organizing races keeps us connected to the needs of our customers. RaceMenu benefits from supporting RACE – Run Against Cancer Events because we get to test new ideas and technology while supporting great causes. RACE, meanwhile, gets RaceMenu’s cool swag, cutting edge technology, and plenty of volunteer hours from our employees.
Want to join the RACE crew of volunteers? Check out www.runagainstcancer.org and email me at kathleen@runagainstcancer.org