So, I've done a couple of charity bike rides, and had a lot of fun doing them. I think this kind of event is nice because it's a social construct that ties together giving and exercise in a pretty effective way. So I'm wondering - would any others be interested in starting a LessWrong athletic event of some kind for charity?

I'm not suggesting that this is the most effective way to raise money for effective causes or get yourself to start exercising... but it might be pretty good (it is a good way to raise money from people who aren't otherwise interested in chairtable giving*), and I at least think I would enjoy it. I would probobably find training for an event to be more motivating than just exercising 'because.' And it'd be even better if the event were for effective charity.

A couple of considerations:

• Would probably require the charities involved to have a place for you to write something about your donation (a la AMF), so that there's some proof for donations.

• I'm not sure what type of athletic event would be best. I've started weightlifting recently, but that doesn't seem to lend itself to the kind of "big event" feel that, say, biking, running, or triathlons seem to offer.

• There's also the possibillity of asking people to contribute X dollars per mile / time / quantifier related to the thing you did.

• It would be ideal if local meetups did this so that people could do it together. Second-best is probably doing it all on the same day, maybe having a group video chat beforehand to talk to anyone who is doing it in isolation.

• People doing it alone also raises the issue of their being able to 'cheat' and not actually do the event - not that I'm actually super worried about this happening, but because it will help people credibly commit if there is cheating prevention in place.

Any aspects of this I've overlooked? Would you participate in such an event if it existed? Would you commit some amount of time and effort to make it exist?

*Depending on how you feel about extracting donations from friends and family, this aspect can range from 'awesome' to 'squicky.'