New website and other important announcements

We have a new SMB website:  http://bendsmb.blogspot.com/
And a new email address: bendSMB@gmail.com

Both are much easier to remember, but there are a host of other reasons for the change including:

• We have divided readers into two groups.  If you just want the basic info, the new website is for you.  If you want more detailed info, you have the option of becoming a member where you get access to a "members only" website and other perks (see below)
• Last year we were were essentially making things up as we went along.  Now we have a better idea of who we are and what we do and the new website will reflect that.

Our very first newsletter will start circulating this week.  It will be a good update for SMB participants who don't use the web.  It is also a fast way to get the gist of how things went at SMB 2013 along with the plans for next year.  Unfortunately, we never got physical addresses for people.  So try to find Carol on the Butte if you want a copy.  We are trying to find another way for people to get copies.  Email us if you have an idea.  Meanwhile, I will make an online copy available soon.

I mentioned "membership" above and that will be a new concept for most.  It helps solve a lot of problems we had in trying to figure out how to make SMB a yearly event and how to best use the money we raise on the Butte.  By far the biggest problem it solves is how to pay for the event itself.  Last year's event cost over $600 which came out of the pockets of a few people.  The bigger SMB 2014 might cost as much as $2,000.  When you become a member, that helps insure that SMB will happen year after year.  You also get a bunch of perks including a cool button (see below) and the newsletter mailed to you.  Learn more about becoming a member on the new website.  The first 50 members are "Founding Members" and the remainder for SMB 2014 are "Charter Members."

First project is done, new announcements soon

It took a little while, but we finally got our first project completed last Thursday.  There is now a solid lock on the summit restroom door thanks to everyone's hard work at SMB.  This project wasn't at the top of the list based on the ballot, but it was high enough that it qualified to be completed.  Plus, that other lock was weirding out a lot of people.  In talking with park manager Susan, we decided to do this project first.  The interesting thing was we discovered that the lock could be upgraded to have an "occupied" indicator.  We knew that some people wanted that because they had written it on their ballots.  But we didn't know how many people wanted it and whether it was worth the extra expense.

So several of the organizers discussed the matter and we decided against the indicator.  Carol was one of those people and she didn't think the indicator was needed.  But then she started asking people while hiking the Butte.  The first eight people she asked were adamant that we should pay the extra money for the indicator.  So we changed our minds and included it.

There will be some announcements coming real soon about how we are organizing things for SMB 2014.  You will see that once all of that is fully in place, decisions like this will be much easier to make and we will be a lot more confident we are making the right decision.

Meanwhile, next time you use that restroom on top, you'll know that SMB fixed the lock situation that so many people were concerned about.  I'm not sure, but I think dog hooks are next.

What's happening with SMB?

There hasn't been an update for a while and I'm sure some are wondering what is happening regarding SMB.  The short answer is there are a lot of irons in the fire.  So many that it would take way too much time to give a full report.  Here are some highlights:

• We are putting the finishing touches on a new website for 2014 and beyond.  Now that we have a better idea of what SMB will look like in the future, a new website is needed to make everything easier to understand.
• We have been consulting with a lot of different people and companies regarding the projects voted on at SMB 2013.
• We are working with the Park to get projects started.
• We are forming a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation that will take over SMB and everything associated with it.
• A newsletter is almost done describing what happened at SMB 2013 and where it is headed in the future.  The newsletter is for everyone, but especially for people who do not use the internet and for the people and businesses that were our sponsors.
• We have started forging some relationships with people and organizations that will help help us accomplish our goals.

SMB was such a success that it ended up being more work than we ever imagined taking it to the next level.  People are starting to fill key roles and that process needs to continue.  If you would like to help us steer SMB to 2014 and beyond, please give me a call.  

Happy trails, Bill (541) 306-8411

How are the projects coming along?

The short answer is, "really well."  By that I mean we are making progress daily.  The long answer is that, at least for now, it takes longer than you might think.  So while we are making progress at a good pace, we aren't exactly days away from starting our first project.  Maybe a week or two if we are lucky.  The reason has to do with how quickly the event came together and some of the bigger problems we had to work through to make SMB happen.  While we definitely wanted to bring the Park into the process early on, it just wasn't possible.  We are in the process of doing that now and things are going well.  We decided that rather than just try to get some projects done quickly, we would use the opportunity we have right now to define a formal process to get projects reviewed by the Park and then hopefully approved.  This will serve both SMB and the Park better in the long run.  Assuming the process we put in place works well, then projects will be approved much faster than if we did things in a less formal way.

Btw, one issue came up that we didn't anticipate.  We missed it mainly because things were moving so fast in the days prior to May 11th.  As I went through 200+ RSVPs looking for items to place on the ballot, I was a little surprised by how easy that was.  There was just so much agreement as to what the projects might be.  So I might have 10 people suggesting the same thing 10 different ways and it was very easy to distill that down to one ballot item that covered all the suggestions.  What I didn't notice was that some of the items were pretty vague.  For example, "trail maintenance" received a lot of votes and was very high on the list.  But what does that mean?  I can go out and find lots of way to improve the trails, but am I addressing the issues that caused the vote to be so high on that item?  We are coming up with a way to address that issue.  The good news is that by the time we have a better definition of what people meant when they voted for "trail maintenance," we should have lots of experience proposing projects to the park and getting them approved.

Other projects are much easier to define and we even have good definitions already for some that are not.  While it may not be clear because we didn't get an official dog vote, the hands down winner this year was clearly "more dog bag dispensers."  It wasn't even close.  We pretty much knew this would happen and so we were paying attention early. As a result, we know exactly what people want on that even though it sounds kind of vague.  We are ready to move forward on that if the Park agrees.

Still getting donations

Can you believe it?  We are still getting donations.  Carol got $30 from two sponsors yesterday and that brings our total over $3,400.  I'll be updating the list soon.  For now, I just wanted you to know that the total is still growing and that your hard work continues making a difference on the Butte.

Some contest winners announced

We have been waiting on some of the prizes to announce the winners of the SMB prize drawing.  We are still waiting and hope to have those prizes in hand this week.  We will announce those winners later.  Meanwhile, these are the winners we have so far.  Some have already picked up their prizes and some still need to.  If you are a winner, you can stop by the Host Site anytime.  The best time is between 5:00 and 8:00 pm daily.  New hosts are coming in June 1st.  Please pick up your prizes before we leave.

Julie Schoening       $50 gift card from The Shoe Inn

Tanner Tedrow         $25 gift certificate from Hola! Mexican Restaurant

Lily Roach            $25 Gift card from Strictly Organic Coffee 

Teresa Mikkleson      Purse from Ice Fine Jewelry

Doug Puschler         Peace Candle from Ice Fine Jewelry

Pat Karpstein         Bacchus Babe Tapas Set from Ice Fine Jewelry

Rebecca Rein          Bacchus Babe Tapas Set from Ice Fine Jewelry

Tom Devlao            Gloveables from Ice Fine Jewelry

G. Cocco              Key Chain from Ice Fine Jewelry

Pat Lamont            Bend T-Shirt from Cascade Cottons

Taylor Poynter        Two loaves of bread from Great Harvest

Katherine Roach       Two loaves of bread from Great Harvest
Tanya Swisher         Two loaves of bread from Great Harvest             

Funny & Profound teaser video uploaded to facebook

If you are a fan of those blooper videos, there is a lot of that in the short videos we took on top in the Funny and Profound Contest.  There were over 800 thirty second videos.  I went through 120 of them and made a short teaser movie.  It is on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Simply-My-Best/176313229193973

If you are familiar with facebook, it is probably easy for you to find.  I wasn't easy for me.  Look for the last post from me and it is in that post.  Hopefully Amber will make it easier to find.  Be sure to Like Us while you are there if you haven't already.

Btw, yet another glitch.  The camera was aimed well down here in the host site, but it was aimed a bit high when we got it on top.  We'll do better next year.  Still, the video seems to capture a lot of the spirit on top.  There will be more to come after I edit the other 700 videos.

This surprises me

You might recall that we asked how often SMB participants get their exercise at Pilot Butte State Park (PBSP).  Here are the numbers:

Seldom                  19 percent
Once per week           22 percent
2 to 3 times per week   31 percent
4 to 5 times per week   14 percent
Almost every day        14 percent

I thought we got about 100 people to join us last Saturday.  These numbers are suggesting that it was more like 150.  Also, I didn't do a direct count, but at least a dozen of the "seldom" crowd wrote down that they were visiting from out-of-town.

As interesting as that is, consider this.  We recently discovered that about 900 people get their exercise in PBSP each day.  I was thinking that most of those people were "regulars" in the park.  But these numbers suggest that probably less only half of them are "regulars" if you define "regular" as three times a week or more.  Remember, we kind of stacked the deck with "regulars" on Saturday and still these are the numbers we got.  That means that if you were to guess at how many people get their exercise at PBSP in a week's time, the number might be 3,500 or more.

I realize that not everyone walking the Butte on Saturday was an SMB participant.  I also realize that Saturdays are probably different than weekdays.  There could be more "regulars" on weekdays.  But the 3,500 figure is pretty conservative and so I think it is possible that it is close to the real number.  Does this surprise you as much as it surprises me?

Contest winners

We just completed the drawing for the prizes.  We are waiting on a few gift cards until we officially announce all the winners here.  They are supposed to arrive tomorrow.  But we did call almost everyone who won a prize.  So if you got a call, congratulations.  If you didn't, stay tuned. You may have still won one of the gift cards that is coming.  If that doesn't work out, there is always SMB 2014!

Idea walk this Friday at 9:00 am

Denny Sullivan will be taking people on a hike in the park where he will share his ideas about what could be done to improve the park and facilitating discussion so that others can share their ideas.  It sounds like it will be a great opportunity to brainstorm ideas for things that SMB might vote on in 2014.  That's important because we expect to raise a lot more money next year.

Denny and I have been talking since he got back from wintering in California.  Turns out he was way ahead of us on several things.  For example, I thought it was a new idea for a dog exercise area near the trailhead.  I had a location in mind where I thought it might work.  So I mentioned it to Denny thinking he probably had not thought of that idea.  He then took me to the exact place I had chosen and then described for me his vision of the dog exercise area.  It was much better than what I had in mind. We also brainstormed some ways to get it done this year on the cheap if we can get park approval.

The walk should be interesting.  He says it takes almost two hours.  We'll meet at the first trailhead kiosk at 9:00 on Friday.

Next year will be a lot less confusing

I've touched on the reasons why things needed to be a bit complicated this year before.  When we were told we needed to do the event informally, that meant no designated volunteers the day of the event.  That meant a long, self-registration Event Form, cameras at check-in stations, registration at the Picnic Shelter, etc.  By the time we finally got the permit, there was really no time to change all of that.  It would have probably all worked fine if I had not forgot to tell people to put numbers on the Event Forms.  No sense in rehashing all of that.

What I want to tell you is there is obviously a better way.  We knew that this year, we just didn't have time to make the switch.  We are still working out the details, but you will basically be carrying a small card that will be punched when you get to the check-in station.  There will be no big event form and no need to stand in front of a camera.  Then, if we can figure out how to do it, we are hoping that the volunteer who punches your card will also be able to scan a bar code.  This will record what you have done directly into a database and give us real-time numbers throughout the day.  The final step will be a simple declaration of whether or not you did a personal best.  We will try to make that happen at the check-in station as well.

By removing the confusion, we will hopefully be able to make the whole thing more fun.  Many of our sponsors this year want to be present at the event next year providing food, drink, and services of all types to support our participants.  There are already so many who want to get involved in this way that we know the big challenge will be selecting the best ones for SMB.  There will not be room for everyone and so we will have to make choices based on what we think makes the most sense.

More numbers

Sorry about having to ask you about your age, but we needed to get a handle on how broad the age range was for people participating in SMB.  Turns out the range was pretty broad:

AGE           PERCENT
=========     =======
 1 to 10           9
11 to 20           9
21 to 30           9
31 to 40          10
41 to 50          17
51 to 60          23
61 to 70          16
71 to 80           4
81 to 85           2
Over 85            2

Knowing this will help us with fundraising next year.

SMB is all about people trying for a personal best.  For those of you who hike the Butte regularly, you might be surprised by how many people accomplished a personal best going to the top one time.  This is what we really wanted to see happen in SMB--people making it to the top for the first time or people doing less than that and turning in a personal best.   There was one person who did a personal best going around the track twice.  Later, I'll summarize some of the explanations that people gave for why what they did was a personal best.  To me, this is the most interesting part of the whole event.  For now, I have numbers on how many laps people did on the summit and base trails:

LAPS   PEOPLE
====   ======
  1      163
  2       65
  3       30
  4       15
  5       10
  6        4
  7        5
  9        1
 10        3
 11        1
 12        1
 15        2

There was rumor of a woman doing 18 laps, but I didn't get an event form with that number of laps recorded.  The rumor was pretty strong and so I think it is possible that it happened.

What about the dog ballot?

I'm wondering the same thing. The darn dogs didn't vote. Maybe the Dawg Grog got them all loopy.  Or maybe we didn't hand out many dog ballots. I only got about four dog ballots.  Not sure what happened but I'm sure it was my fault.  The good news is the dog ballot was pretty short and we have enough money to do most of what was on it.  We also have a good handle on the priorities from the RSVP's.  Btw, start thinking about dog-related projects for 2014.  The ones we had on the list for 2013 were fairly inexpensive and there is a chance we will get them all done.

What happened to the prize drawing?

We are hoping to do the drawing and announce the winners sometime tomorrow.  When things slowed down as it got hotter, we decided not to draw for prizes on Saturday.  It was a good thing we waited.  Carol discovered that someone got access to the tickets and entered at least 10 times.  Now there were no signs saying you couldn't do that, but it was always our intent to have just one entry per participant.  So we are back to our original intent about ready to start giving away prizes

Final amount raised?

You know things are hectic when you are too busy to count money.  I had a few donations that didn't get entered days before the event.  Then we got a few more donations during and after.  Our total is now $3,373.  That may be the final amount, but who knows?  We were instructed not to take in money on the day of the event and people insisted on donating so forcefully that we had no choice.  Then we got donations yesterday and today.  Kind of crazy, but a good crazy if you know what I mean.

Big mystery

Where's the trash?  We were expecting to haul a truckload of trash to the dump this morning.  We told the park we would do that when we applied for the permit.  I think they were expecting more trash than we were expecting and we thought they had to be right because they know how these events go.  We ended up with less than two bags of trash.  There is almost no trash to be found.  Even the park's trash cans didn't even come close to filling.  So I contacted the park and they said we could use the dumpster for the little trash we have.  Saves us a trip to the dump.

Thank you everyone for literally going the extra mile and for being on your best behavior.  People coming to an event like this and taking their trash home with them, that could only happen on the Butte.  Beyond that, Carol was hiking almost all day long and she saw no dogs off leash, no problems with people too far out on the road, no one hiking off trail, etc.  I can only conclude that the behavior of our participants became contagious and spread to everyone else.  This being our first year, we really needed things like that to happen so that the park would not get any complaints.  It helps us get approval for the things we want to happen next year and it is extremely important.  So thank you again.  You will defiantly see the effect of all of this at SMB 2014.

The ballot is counted

I was thinking there was a problem because we only got about 110 ballots from 372 participants.  Clearly that number should have been higher and I'm guessing some people didn't get a ballot.  If that happened, it is yet another first year mistake.  Still, I know that we pulled well over 100 people into SMB who were just out for a hike.  Their numbers helped us to raise all the money that was donated (btw, we just barely raised it all).  But I don't think they were people who were especially in tune with the issues on the Butte, so I can see a lot of them not voting.  Plus some people just don't vote for whatever reason.

So I would be happier if we had about 180 ballots but then, after tabulating the ballots by hand, I really don't think it would have changed much.  I knew the end results by the time I got through the first 50 ballots.  Kind of like in an election where TV stations project the winners and are rarely wrong.  The trends just held up as I kept counting and so I don't think 70 more ballots would have made much of a difference in the final results.

Now, remember, the bigger projects were voted on just to give us an idea of what we might be wanting to do with next year's money.  The smaller projects are the things we will try to get done this year.  Not just one, but several of them.  Also, we will be presenting the park with a ranked list of projects and the final decision of what gets done will be theirs.  We have a process in place for that and we will let you know the results and timeline for the projects as soon as we know.

Here are the results:

BIGGER PROJECTS (cast one vote):

ÿ       WATER ON TOP ALL YEAR                                                                                                         36

ÿ       BEAUTIFY THE BUTTE                                                                                                                 24

ÿ       GET RID OF THE MUD ON THE NATURE TRAIL                                                                    23

ÿ       NEW TRAIL STRAIGHT UP TO THE TOP.                                                                                  08

SMALLER PROJECTS (cast three votes):

ÿ       MAKE THE TRAILS SAFER IN WINTER                                                                                     32

ÿ        OVERALL TRAIL MAINTENANCE ON ALL TRAILS IN THE PARK                                    32

ÿ       TRASH CAN HALF WAY UP ON ROAD TRAL.                                                                         31

ÿ       MAJOR MAINTENANCE ON THE ROAD TRAIL                                                                      27

ÿ       SANITIZER IN TOP RESTROOM.                                                                                                 26

ÿ       FIX THE DETERIORATING PORTIONS OF THE ADA ROAD ACCESS TRAIL                   21

ÿ       MORE DOGGIE BAG STATIONS.                                                                                                 17

ÿ       NEW RESTROOM LOCK ON TOP BATHROOM DOOR.                                                          16

ÿ       MILEAGE MARKERS ON THE TRAILS.                                                                                     16

ÿ       FIX THE ROCK PROBLEM AT THE START OF THE NATURE TRAIL.                                 09

ÿ       PUT MIRRORS IN THE BOTTOM RESTROOM.                                                                         07

ÿ       SIGNS TO LET PEOPLE KNOW WHEN DRINKING FOUNTAINS AREN’T WORKING.      07

ÿ       SIGN FROM PARK USERS ENCOURAGING FOLKS TO FOLLOW RULES.                           06

ÿ       MORE PICNIC TABLES IN THE GRASSY AREA OF THE PARK                                             06

ÿ       PAVE THE ACCESS TRAIL TO THE PARK OFF OF DEREK AVE.                                          01

We did it!

I just went through all the Event Forms and, even being a bit conservative, it is clear we raised all off the money that has been donated (close to $3,300).  Here are some of the highlights:

• Total times to the top (all hikers) =  615
• Total Miles Hiked =1457
• Total Participants = 372
• Total Personal bests = 176

I think I had predicted a higher number of personal bests when I did my calculations two weeks before SMB.  The hot weather may have affected that or maybe I was just wrong.  What saved the day was: 

1. a lot more participants than I expected.
2. an unbelievable total times to the top.
3. 250+ miles more than what was needed to capture Starbucks $300 Mega-Sponsor pledge.

We started the day with about 250 RSVP's and ended the day with 372 participants.  I know that some of the RSVP's didn't show up.  That means we did a great job of getting people into the event.  The estimates I've heard from several people are that at least half of the people hiking the Butte were wearing SMB buttons.  Some put the figure as high as two-thirds or more.  That's really good when you consider the fact that a lot of people ended up registering as they were ending their hikes.

Dogs were a big help as well.  There were a lot more dogs in SMB than we expected and, because dogs raised double, their contribution was big.

Now that I know we raised all of the money, I'm going to move on to the ballots.  But we will get back to this topic later.  I want to review the explanations of why people said they did their personal best on Saturday.  I saw a few and there are some good stories to be found there.  Also, it looks like we had a really broad range of ages participating along with quite a mixture of different types of hikers (some who this was their first time hiking the Butte all the way up to many who hike it almost every day).  Those numbers should be interesting as well.

Happy trails, Bill

Mounds of event forms

I want everyone to know that the major confusion we had in the morning was totally my fault.  I forgot to mention to our volunteers that there had to be a number written on each event form.  Thankfully, we have great volunteers who were able to deal with all the confusion pretty darn well and with a great spirit too.

 I want everyone to know that this didn't cause problems for the mechanics of the event.  We are still able to figure out exactly how much money we raised.  But it added confusion to the event itself and it is making my job of doing the tally a lot harder.  You see the number was there mainly for me to use after the event.  So I apologize for that and for how long it is taking to get the numbers together for you.

Btw, we knew the event form was a little complicated, but it had to be done that way this year for a number of reasons that I won't bore you with.  The way we have it planned for next year is going to be totally easy.  In fact, Will, the guy with the guitar, is trying to figure out a high tech addition that will give us accurate real time numbers throughout the day and then right after the event ends.  I'm all for that because I've been dealing with these event forms for several hours already and I still have several hours to go.  Again, no one to blame but myself.  Those darn numbers would have made this so much easier.

Happy trails,
Bill

Day After

Thank you everyone for such a great day yesterday.  We had zero mess to clean up and take down was a breeze.  Considering how many people showed up, that was a minor miracle,  People were hiking before the sun came up and well after dark.  We heard stories all day of impressive personal bests, meaning people beating their own personal best by doing anywhere from 1 to 5 extra laps (and there were a lot of the later).  So SMB worked well on that and other levels.  We are pretty sure we raised all of the money.  The counter on top started malfunctioning (not counting every press) at around 350 times to the top, so we started doing an informal count and we are sure we exceeded 500 times to the top, we just don't know by how much.  We should have the answers to that and other questions today and we'll let you know here and on facebook as soon as we do

Good news for all you social media lovers

Amber Barnhart has set up a facebook page for us.  I'm amazed because we worked all of this out via email after she contacted me a couple days ago saying SMB should be on Facebook.  Well, we kind of knew that, but we are social-media-challenged and didn't even fully understand why Facebook was important.  Amber straightened us out and then made everything look and work the way it should.  

As you may have read, we are also on twitter.  So get out there and "like us" on twitter and "follow us" on facebook!  Or is it "like us" on facebook and "follow us" on twitter?  Or is it both?  I'm confused again.  For those of you who aren't confused, here are the links:

Facebook      https://www.facebook.com/pages/Simply-My-Best/176313229193973
Twitter           https://twitter.com/bendsmb

Seriously though, we are hoping that twitter is fun the day of the event because everyone who can text on their cell phone can tweet.  I actually know how to do that and it is kind of neat.  Our hashtag is #bendSMB.  There is a contest running right now and continuing all day tomorrow.

Then, starting now and continuing after SMB 2013, the Facebook page will help keep everyone connected to SMB.  We are hoping to have a lot of pictures and stories posted along with discussions and everything else Facebbok is famous for.  Thanks Amber for making all of this possible.

Will & John are performing, how about you?

Will is bringing his guitar, and I have it on good authority that he will perform (but he may need some coaxing).  John seems to need no Coaxing.  He will be doing short humorous poems and stories throughout the day.

You may be wondering if SMB is turning into American Idol or something.  Definitely not (I'm sure our talent is better).  But we may need a few people to liven up the shindig on occasion.  We are thinking of two to four minute performances now and then, whenever the mood strikes.  No concerts or anything like that.  So if you have some talent you would like to share in this way, we would love to have it at the SMB Shindig.  Music, singing, story telling, magic, and so many other forms of entertainment--its all fair game and welcome at the SMB Shindig!

Web traffic increasing

If web traffic is any indication, people are getting excited about SMB,  Yesterday was almost double the number of page views that we have ever had on a single day.  It isn't even 7:00 am right now and we are just two shy of that.

Weather forecast is still calling for low 80's tomorrow with light and variable winds.  A tad on the warm side, but at least it should be easy deciding what to wear.  Our biggest fear was a day with steady rain and we can now say with near certainty that we have avoided that.  In fact, high pressure is supposed to be building all day today and into tomorrow as well.  Don't forget your sunscreen.

Its just wrong

Come on people.  I think a cat is winning the twitter contest.  We can't let that happen.  He's nothing but a troll anyway.  If you think that cat is going to be participating in SMB on Saturday, you are sadly mistaken.  He's got three legs, rarely even goes outside, and NEVER hikes.  If he doesn't participate, he can't win because the contest is only for participants.  He thinks he can skate by with all the sympathy he gets with the missing leg. I'm not saying it isn't sad about the three leg thing but, come on, can you really win a contest with a few meows?   We need a twitter warrior to go in and wipe the floor with him IMHO.  So let's get tweeting because the dignity of the human species is on the line.

Some distance hiking tips (not quite as promised)

I said a long time ago that I would be posting distance hiking tips on this blog.  I started writing them way back when and things kept coming up that were more important.  As a result, I only have a half dozen or so and even those haven't experienced much editing.  They are pretty much rough drafts at this point.  But I think there is some useful information in there and so I have included a link to what I have.  You really only can do one or two of these at a time and so you don't really need the whole list now because there is so little time.  The "Camel Walk" is probably the most important of the bunch.  So if you do that, and one of the others, you will get quite a bit of benefit.  We'll get the whole list completed well in advance of next year's SMB.  You can get an idea of what is coming by looking at the subjects that have no content.  When I'm done, there will probably be a small book worth of information.

This is a subject that Carol and I have been studying for years.  It turns out that almost everyone can use techniques like this to greatly increase the distance they are able to hike.

Pop problem solved

We had our last meeting for all the volunteers tonight and it was great.  Lots of details ironed out and it is looking like we will definitely be able to fool everyone into thinking we know what we are doing come Saturday.  I joke.  The truth is we have a great group of people, each seemingly caring even more than the next about Pilot Butte and SMB.

So it turned out that one volunteer, Jerry Cserepes, had already solved our pop problem. He called someone he knew at Walmart and they have committed to 500 cans of pop for Saturday.  That is amazing because Carol and I have got donations from Walmart for other things before and, even though they are a very charitable company, I didn't think their procedure would allow for such a fast response to a community need.  

Water mystery solved, buzz happening bigtime

I just sent out an email about our sudden wealth of water.  Turns out it was a mis-communication that caused the problem.  So we are good with water at this point and still needing pop.  Once we get enough pop, I'll let everyone know.   

Great job everyone on creating a buzz about SMB.  I know I got over 20 RSVPs today alone.  It has been so busy that I haven't had time to count.  I know we are getting close to 250 total RSVPs.  We just might hit 300 by Saturday.

Do the Camel Walk

Here is a tip for all of you shooting for a long distance on Saturday: Do the Camel Walk on Friday.

The Camel Walk is my pet name for the modified rest step people develop for walking long distances.  If you get a picture in your head of a camel walking across the sand in a desert, you may get a sense of what I am talking about.  Think about the slow, even pace.  Think about the fluidity of the movement.  Then think about walking long distances in harsh conditions.  No surprise that camels are able to do the "Camel Walk" without a second thought.

But humans are different.  They are often in a hurry and they seldom give thought to how they are expending their energy.  Still, if you have ever bitten off a little more than you could chew on a hike,

Amazing sponsors

This one is almost unbelievable to me and I've been the one keeping track.  We just passed $3,200 with a donation from Susan Park and it is possible we will top $3,500 by Saturday.  I remember one of our setbacks when we were on track for this amount and then thought that figure was no longer possible.  Guess what?  Its possible!  Not only that but, without hardly trying, we have had lots of food, prizes, and services donated by sponsors.  I have no way of knowing how much all of these bonus donations are worth, but it is easily $500 and may be $1,000 or more.  Our original concept of a "partnership" between hikers and sponsors is alive and well!  In fact, it is thriving and setting the stage for a day like no other at Pilot Butte.

Westside parking available, other parking issues

We are hoping that because there is no start time for SMB, there will not be a problem finding parking.  But the truth is we don't know.  With that in mind, please consider the following:

• Please park away from the prime spaces when you arrive.  Let's let the people who aren't yet participating in SMB get those.
• If the parking lot is starting to fill when you arrive, please consider parking on the street or elsewhere.
• Victory Babtist Church, just a "short" block west of the Summit Road, has said we can use their parking lot on Saturday.  This might be a good option for people doing either the Suimmit Loop or the Base Trail.  You will still need to register at the picnic shelter at some point during your first lap.  But you can go to the top and then go down to register. On the Base Trail, you can register when you get to the drinking fountain area.
• When parking in unmarked spaces in the Trailhead Parking Lot, please park in a way that makes it possible for the maximum number of cars to fit.  

The main reason why I bring up parking is to reduce the chances of complaints from people not involved in SMB.  We are aiming for zero complaints to help make sure that we can do everything we want next year when SMB is much bigger.  Let's all keep the "Zero Complaints" goal in mind as we have an amazing day on Saturday.

Getting close

The forecast for the temperature on Saturday continues to climb.  Tonight the prediction is 83.  With a couple days left, I am hoping it will start moving in the other direction.  Good news is no precipitation is in the forecast.  So maybe the humidity will be low.  I'll take 83 degrees and low humidity over a day like today every time.  Somehow, I really think it will end up being a perfect day.

If you are planning to hike more than you usually do, be sure to use sunscreen even if it is partly cloudy.  If you forget, we'll have some available.  We are getting closer to the point where dog owners might need to get concerned, but we aren't quite there yet.  One suggestion we got was to feel the pavement with your hand.  If it is too hot for you, then it is probably too hot for your dog.  But remember, that is the pavement.  The trail should be fine in these temperatures.  At least that is what we are being told.  If you want to be absolutely sure, we have been told that booties are great if your dog will wear them.

We had a meeting with the Shindig volunteers tonight and we came up with a lot of things we can do to help everyone beat the heat.  Beyond that, remember that it won't be too long now until we are wishing the temperature was "just" 83 degrees.

Lots of things in the works at this time.  I should have a lot to report tomorrow and Friday.

Just passed $3,000

High Desert Ranch & Home just put us over the $3,000 mark with their $200 donation.  We know we still have other donations coming in.  So the question now is how high can we go before Saturday?

Four days until SMB. Looking like it will be Hot, Hot, Hot.

It's hard to believe it has been less than two months since we first started talking about SMB.  In that time we have over 200 RSVPs and have raised over $2,800 in donations with more to come.  We hit a couple of brick walls and just walked right through them like they weren't even there.  This thing took on a life of its own within days and and there was no stopping it.  Now we are almost there and, even though we are confident that it will be everything we hoped it would be, there is also this strong feeling that it may be much better than any of us can even imagine.

Each day the weather forecast seems to add a degree or two.  Today the prediction was close to 80 degrees for Saturday.  But Sunday is supposed to be much cooler so who knows?  Still, we need to prepare for warm weather.  We have 8 cases of water (280 bottles) and I am thinking we need at least twice that. If you want to contribute a case of water, please drop it by the Host Site.  Costco sells a 35 bottle case for about $5 including deposit.   If the forecast holds, we will be staging water at the halfway point on both trails to the summit. Dog bowls will be available as well.  We have checked several sources and all agree that it has to get quite a bit hotter to cause problems for dogs feet.  Still, the advice is to keep the dogs off the pavement as much as possible.  We'll have ways for dogs and people to cool down.  We also have plenty of Gatorade, pop, and ice.  We will have Popsicles, ice cream, and other frozen treats. It's not like 80 is super hot.  It's more that SMB participants are super cool.  We are just doing what we can to keep them that way!

Now we're buzzing! Twitter contest starts.

Last night we started getting a lot of RSVP's and that has continued this morning.  Keep up the good work as we try for 300 or more total RSVP's (people and dogs) by Friday night.  It seems to be helping when people wear their Event Buttons as they hike this week.  Get yours from Carol or me.  They look like this:

Well, they look a little better than that actually.  You get the idea.

We are starting the twitter contest before SMB to enhance the "Buzz on the Butte" and to make sure everything works (Twitter is kind of new to me). The contest is called: "CONTAGIOUS, OUTRAGEOUS, ENGAGE US!"

• Tweet something about SMB that fits into one of those three categories.
• Tweet as often as you like.  The more you tweet the better your chances to win.
• Make sure to end each tweet with #bendSMB or #bendsmb (both the same in Twitter).  
• The contest runs until the end of the day on Saturday.  
• First, second, and third place winners will raise extra money for Pilot Butte. 

 Let's get tweeting.  Here's the SMB twitter page: https://twitter.com/bendsmb

Happy trails, Bill

Lucky Seven contest winner announced

We got our 7th online donation this afternoon and the winner is ...  Linda Temple.  She is another regular hiker on the Butte and she wins a $25 gift card donated by Strictly Organic Coffee.  Total donations from all seven people was $270. If you were hoping to win this gift card, don't despair.  We have another and will be giving it away at the SMB Shindig along with a bunch of other cool prizes.

Weather is looking good so far for May 11th according to all the predictions.  Only bad news is KTVZ is also predicting good weather and it seems to me they are wrong more often than they are right.

Happy trails, Bill

Counting down to SMB: One week to go!

SMB is just a week away.  As we have been reporting, everything is going great.  We've got RSVPs from 200+ participants, over $2,600 in donations, and the SMB Shindig is going to be a blast.  Right now, the main thing we are needing is more participants.  You can help by wearing your event button this week as you hike the Butte.  Find Carol or myself to get yours.  Let's create a buzz on the Butte and inspire others to join in.  We are needing about 100 more participants by next Saturday to insure that we hit our 1,200 mile goal and raise all the funds that have been donated.  Take some extra brochures and hand them off to people you know who haven't yet RSVP'd.  Remember that dog owners are especially good prospects because you enroll at least two for one.  Don't be afraid to mention that there will be food and prizes at the Shindig.  If you haven't received your email yet about the Shindig, you will soon.  We are needing folks to bring a few things and we know people will.  The generosity of Butte Walkers has been off the charts and absolutely amazing.  Btw, our volunteers have been outstanding.  We had a meeting almost every night last week and this week is no different.  You will definitely notice all they have done when you arrive on May 11th.

Big THANK YOU to The Commons At Pilot Butte

We were scrambling to find meeting places for all of our volunteer meetings and Carol thought of asking at the apartments next door.  When she introduced herself, she was told that they had already heard about SMB and a lot of people there were planning to attend.  I guess you don't know how good your neighbors are unless you stop by and say "hey,"  So we have volunteer meetings scheduled almost every weeknight from yesterday through the end of next week and all of those meetings are at the Commons Apartments.  Being so close to the park is a great benefit because all we have to do is take a short walk when we want to make sure an idea we have is going to work.

Just hit another fundraising milestone

We just hit $2,500 for SMB.  Next stop $3,000.  Here is the interesting thing.  Businesses just keep giving us things (often, in addition to a cash donation).  Last week we got a lot of food and that is still happening.  Lately we have been getting things like gift certificates, t-shirts, dog products, and more.  It is all really nice stuff and it adds a fun aspect to the event.  We have what amounts to a lot of door prizes and the challenge now is to find fun ways for people to win them.  This adds an aspect to SMB that we never considered when we first started.

The main thing I feel the need to say is this: Please take a minute to look over our growing list of sponsors.  Be sure to thank any of the individuals you know who have become sponsors (we never imagined there would be so many people stepping forward to sponsor SMB).  Then, trust me on this one, the businesses that have sponsored us have all been absolutely amazing both in their generosity and overall spirit.  So many of them want to be directly involved in the event next year.  Today, one of them invited us to an important corporate meeting next week because they want to get on board for next year as soon as possible.  It sounds like they might be a big sponsor and so we are trying to attend even though the meeting is really close to May 11th.

Happy trails, Bill

Early RSVP contest winner announced

It took me until late last night to do the drawing for the winner of the contest we were having to encourage people to RSVP early. So I got it done on the 28th as promised, but I couldn't announce it until after I talked with the winner. I just had a pleasant conversation with Lucinda Pefferle who will get two free meals at Jake's Diner. She hikes the Butte almost every day. Over 140 people had RSVP'd in time for the contest and that helped us a lot. Thank you everyone for getting your RSVP's in early. If you know anyone else who plans to RSVP, if they do so by May 1st, their event form will be partly filled out and waiting for them when they arrive on May 11th.

 The contest aspect of SMB was started by Jake's Diner. They gave us the idea. We have another contest running right now and it is sounding like there will be quite a few contests running the day of the event. All of this adds to the fun and the celebratory aspect of SMB. So we are experiencing an amazing hike, raising money for the Butte, having a big party, and giving out prizes. Like I've said before, SMB just keeps getting better and better was we go along.

 Happy Trails, Bill

Thanks to you, we are getting what we always wanted

When we first started planning SMB, we asked the park for a permit.  Our request was denied mainly because time was short.  We were told we could hold the event informally by fitting it into the day-to-day operations of the park.  We did that, using only word of mouth to publicize SMB.  Well, we have had so much success that the park now wants us to have a permit.  All those RSVPs got their attention.  This is great news and it will help us make SMB better.  But we still need to rely on word-of-mouth this year because we can see the potential for SMB to get too big, too fast.  Recently, a popular radio station told us they were planning to tell people about SMB.  We had to scramble to make sure they didn’t because something like that could easily overwhelm us.  It is important that SMB doesn’t get so big this year that it causes problems for us or for the park.  A successful SMB this year will help us to have a bigger and better SMB next year.

Btw, did you notice we are getting close to the $2,500 mark.  We have two more people helping us to get donations.  Thank you Jerry and Kristin for your amazing energy and enthusiasm.  

Just passed $2,000

China Doll restaurant just gave us a donation that took us past $2,000 in fundraising.  This was our original goal when we first started, so it is kind of cool to see that happen.  But the amount will continue to go up.  Next big milestone is $2,500.  We also got four dozen mini cupcakes from Ida's Cupcakes for the party.

Quick update

There is so much happening this week that it would be impossible to keep everyone up-to-date.  Much of that has to do with the nuts and bolts of things and that probably is not of interest to most.  Here are a few things that might be of interest:

• The Jake's Diner early RSVP contest is helping.  We recently passed 160 RSVPs.  The contest runs until the end of the day on the 27th. 
• Fundraising continues.  We are almost up to $1,800, have soft commitments for at least $200 more, and are in talks with more than a dozen potential sponsors.  We also have two more people helping us to raise funds. 
• Almost like magic we started getting donations of items we need: Coffee, Gatorade, Dog Treats, Cookies, water, and more.  That was a nice surprise.
• Strictly Organic Coffee gave us two $25 gift cards.  We are using one in a contest now and will use the other in a different contest in the future.
• Volunteer groups taking on specific tasks will start meeting this week.  We will probably have one more meeting for all volunteers just prior to May 11th.
• We have a good rough estimate of how many people walk/hike/run in Pilot Butte State Park for exercise each day.  Would you believe 900 people?  That is the average and we still have not had a really busy day.
• The announcement of the Mega-Sponsor is coming up on the 27th.  This is the most important thing that happens prior to the event itself.  Things will start kicking into high gear after that.

Jake's Diner helping us get early RSVP's

Jake's Diner has donated two meals we are using in a contest to encourage people to RSVP before April 27th.  If you have already RSVP'd, you are already entered into the contest.  Early RSVP's are important because they help us predict what will happen and link the money we've raised to what our hikers accomplish.  Thank you Jake's for helping us with this aspect of SMB.

To keep things honest, the prize will awarded on May 11th when you show up to hike.  If, for some reason, the winner does not show up on May 11th, the prize may go to one of the runners-up.  As much as our canine participants might want to eat at Jakes, that probably is isn't a good idea.  We'll do our best to come up with a prize for them.  Stay tuned.

Happy Trails, Bill

Just passed $1,100 in fundraising

This has been a good day for SMB.  Four new sponsors came on board pushing us past $1,100.  Included is the Mega-Sponsor who plays a very specific and important role in the event.  It is important to SMB that this sponsor remains a mystery for a while.  We will officially announce the name of the Mega-Sponsor on April 27, 2013.  But I can give you a hint: it is one of the businesses that Butte walkers have probably mentioned most often as a potential sponsor.  Butte Walkers sent us to this business and they ended up becoming our Mega-Sponsor.  How cool is that?

We had thought the Mega-Sponsor would be hard to get.  Nothing could have been further from the truth.  This is an amazing business that "gets" what we are doing and really wanted to be involved on this level.  Please remember that all sponsors are important.  We now have donations ranging from $5 to $300 and many places in between.  Plus, the Mega-Sponsor is by no means the largest sponsor.  They are just the first to step forward and fill this very important role in our event.   Having this roll filled takes away any worries we have regarding fundraising.  It should be clear sailing ahead from this point forward.

Happy trails, Bill

Unbelievable enthusiasm for SMB

It has only been about three weeks since we started telling folks about SMB and the response has been amazing on every level.  We have 130+ RSVPs, 20+ volunteers, great input that has helped us shape the event and make it better, and over $500 in donations.  The interesting thing about the donations is that most of that money has come from people who have RSVP'd.  We really never expected that to happen.  Meanwhile, Carol, and a couple others, have been out visiting local businesses seeking their support.  That process can take up to 8 contacts per business and so it takes a little while.  If you have been wondering why you haven't seen much of Carol on the Butte the past week, that is because she has been hiking from store to store.  We have yet to have anyone give us a "no," lots of maybes, and about 20 yeses with the amount to be determined.  Three of those became firm sponsors yesterday and we are expecting the rest to reach a decision next week.  In short, there is a ton of enthusiasm for SMB.

Have there been unexpected problems along the way?  You bet.  But the core concept of this event is so powerful that it just seems to rise above every problem with ease.  In other words, the solution to almost every problem encountered has made the event better.  I was joking with someone the other day about how I was wishing there were more problems (really, there have been a lot less than I expected).  I swear that I was just joking.  Well, I probably should have kept my big mouth shut because, a couple days later, we ran into a real doozy!  That one took a while to solve and it took more than just me to do it.  But here is the amazing thing.  The solution makes the event A LOT BETTER.  I'll have more to report on that soon.  It is very exciting news.

Happy trails, Bill

Lots of participants, fundraising ramps up this week

The response to the event has been amazing. Over 125 participants have now RSVP'd and we keep getting more. Based on that, and a few other things, 300 or more participants seems likely. Time to focus on fundraising. As the sponsors officially come on board, they are being listed at the bottom of this page. We're up to $220 right this minute with 20+ irons in the fire. So that figure should increase soon. The Bend community as a whole is incredibly generous even when the economy isn't so great.

Do you use Twitter? We set up an account and you can access it from this page. I'm thinking that it might be a lot of fun on the day of the event. Our hashtag is #bendsmb. I am working on a twitter contest that might even start before May 11th and then continue as we are hiking. I am not the biggest fan of social media, but I do like Twitter. Hopefully one of our volunteers likes facebook because I hate it. We really need someone who loves it because people just expect it with everything, including events like this.

Happy trails, Bill

Dogs RSVPing faster than people

While is is true that a lot of people have already RSVP'd, dogs have recently been RSVPing at a ratio of like 3 to 1. They can't even type and somehow they are getting involved faster than people right now. Not that there should ever be a competition between species, but it is a bit embarrassing. Plus, I don't know if I should remind you of that "Planet of the Apes" movie. I'm just saying... Anyway, it would be great if people could at least try to keep up with our canine friends. Happy trails, Bill

Switching gears

Thank you everyone for being so patient as we got the nuts and bolts of this new event figured out. It is starting to feel like we have our act together! We now have the date set, a brochure that is good enough for this year, a webpage/blog that is working and much easier to navigate, etc. We also have a lot of RSVPs, more than I would have ever thought possible by now. That's good because the RSVP's are extremely important. If you haven't RSVP'd yet, please do so as soon as possible.

In addition to all of that, we have a growing list of people who want to help out and even some surprise donations. So many people have been asking if we will have Gatorade that I just decided to go directly to Nuun, a company that makes a cool electrolyte replacer that would be perfect for this event. I am hoping to hear back from them soon and will keep you posted. Our first volunteer meeting will take place soon and fundraising kicks into high gear on Monday.

Part of the reason for making changes in the blog was to help people who want to track the progress of this event. The blog itself is now closer to the top of the page. Also, there is a new section at the bottom of the page where we will be listing our sponsors as we get written commitments from them. The only reason no one is listed now is because we didn't have the form ready when the surprise donations started happening. So sponsors should start appearing on the list very soon.

Happy trails, Bill

Date chosen: May 11th, 2013

The date is now set and I just finished updating everything I could find that needed to be changed, including the RSVP form that was a bit of a mess but is now shorter and better.  Now is a good time to start telling people about the event if you haven't already.  We are having some "Ask Me About..." pinback buttons made.  I know we've been

Getting closer to a date

I just finished going through all the RSVPs we have so far.  They are coming in kind of fast today, so that could easily change things.  But right now it looks like May 11th is the best bet followed by May 4th.  The only downside I see so far to May 11th is

First RSVP from a Base Trail hiker

Just got in our first RSVP from a person who regularly hikes the Base Trail.  WoooHooo!  He is shooting for four laps.  We got a little delayed today spreading the word on the Base Trail and Track due the technical issue that came up.  No problem.  We ended up getting our first registration on those trails without hardly trying.

An interesting thing came up.  Some people are measuring their personal best by how many days they hike to the top in a week.  I had tried to be a bit vague on what "personal best" meant and this does present a challenge for a one day event.  If it doesn't end up to being too many people, we can probably accommodate something like this.  No promises, but we will try.

Oops, tech problem found (solved?)

Update: Now several hikers have told us they are having problems bringing up the blog with the address we provided.  Most people are not having problems, but a few are.  It seems to have something to do with security settings on whatever computer you are using and the solution appears to be to start the address with "https" as opposed to "http".

New brochure hot off the presses

If you haven't yet RSVP'd, it would really be great if you could.  It is best if you use the form below, but you can also email us or do it in person when you see us.  A phone number is still in the works.

We now have a tri-fold brochure describing the event and making it a bit easier to figure out how to RSVP.  It replaces that long sheet that some of you got.  One thing that is both new and helpful in the brochure is some tips on distance hiking.  Eventually there will be a link on this blog for even more great tips.  Be sure to get a copy from Carol or myself.  You can also use it if you want to tell others about the event.  Take more than one if you want.  I hope to have some available at the host site by

RSVPs coming in, very helpful

As of tonight we have 11 RSVPs that have come in over this blog.  Carol has a lot more verbal commitments, but she thinks those will soon come in via the blog as well.  So we can focus for now on the 11.  As a group they are aiming for a combined 51 round trips to the top.  The range is from one to 12, with two or three being most common.  This is definitely the type off info we need for planning and it is already helping,  So far so good on the date as very few Saturdays were reported as potential problems.  We are just so amazed by how fast this is taking off.  Btw, we also have our first RSVP

First online RSVP

Our first online RSVP came in just after 11:00 this morning.  That actually surprised me because it was just after Carol had the info in hand to give out.  Really exciting to see things starting to happen.  I hope it is running as smooth on your end as it is on ours.  Please email us if you have any problems completing the online RSVP form: simplymybest2013@gmail.com

One thing I forgot to mention is that there seemed to be no good way around us having to make each person RSVP separately.  This is mainly because we are flying by the seat of our pants and needing

Going to to the dogs

We have barely even started and already someone came up with an idea that I think is so good that I want to share it asap.  Can dogs participate?  I don't see why not.  We would have to raise money specific for participants who happen to be dogs.  That shouldn't be too hard because there are so many pet stores, veterinarians, groomers, boarding facilities, etc., in town.  Best of all, when someone participates with their dog, we might end up raising up to double the money we would have raised if all these philanthropic dogs were excluded from the event.  Carol says there is an extra bonus in that I can participate in both categories.  If you understand what she is talking about, please explain it to me.  She seemed to think that what she said was very funny.

Happy trails, Bill

Suggestions needed for potential projects

The money we raise will pay for some type of improvement in the park that will hopefully get underway soon after the event ends.  We need suggestions for projects that people would like to see completed.  The projects would need to be small enough to be done with the money we raise.  Sorry Denny, but I don't forsee us building a tram to the top with the type of money we will raise in 2013. But I can think of a couple of projects that might be possible with this kind of dough: (1) improving the mud situation on the nature trail and (2) making water available up top when the drinking fountain isn't working.  Let us know whatever other potential projects you can think of.  We can then whittle down the list to the top three or four projects.  The park would of course have to approve the list before we start.  Then, on the day of the event, all participants will vote on their favorite project.  Whatever project wins will be the one that gets done.

Happy trails, Bill

Initial feedback, Name decided

While Carol was off on a date hiking somewhere else today, I agreed to take her place on the Butte.  I told Carol I would do no more than three times even though she insisted on more.  Well, I was on my way down after my third time to the top when I ran into Noreen for the third time.  I remembered Carol pleading with me, "Come on, you can at least do four times."  I told Noreen it was her fault and I started up again.  All in all, it was a really good day.

I found myself mentioning this event to just about everyone who was hiking to the top more than once.  I found it was easy to describe and most people seemed interested in participating.  Everyone that I remembered to ask seemed to like the name.  It is amazing how hiking the Butte helps you to see things in a better light.  I realized that the name is good enough for now.  We can always rename the event if and when we repeat it.  So I am thinking we should just stay with "Simply My Best."  It just doesn't make sense to spend much time on a name when there is so much other stuff to do.

Happy trails, Bill

Stay Tuned

Set this up real fast tonight so that people will have a place to read about the progress we are making towards getting our event off the ground.  For now we are calling the event "Simply My Best" but we are hoping for a better name.  The best way to communicate with us right now is via email: simplymybest2013@gmail.com

I am working on a phone number and this blog should look a little better very soon.  Please be patient.

Happy trails, Bill