Simply My Best: Thanks to you, we are getting what we always wanted

SIMPLY MY BEST

UPDATE: This was the website where we figured out what SMB would be. Then we created a new site for SMB 2014. Then, in March, 2014, we launched a REAL website for the event and our nonprofit called Pilot Butte Summit Seekers. Check it out...

WWW.PILOTBUTTESUMMITSEEKERS.ORG

Kind of cool to watch it change from something we literally made up as we went along to something that was built on the efforts of so many and actually planned to some degree. It will be fun to watch the new website take shape over the coming months.

Btw, if you haven't heard, SMB 2014 is May 10th!

Note: Many functions on this old site have been removed or disabled, but the blog remains as a record of the SMB journey.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

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.

THE INSIDE SCOOP

This is not your typical event. It is informal and casual by nature. We hope to never be out there aggressively spreading the word because we think the event will always have a certain magic if we let it grow at a natural pace. Plus, as we have already found, Pilot Butte itself is the perfect place to spread the word. Not only are there a lot of hikers who already know each other, we have really been surprised by how many regular hikers there are that we don't know. It is no accident that the parking area gets over 15,000 cars per month. People love Pilot Butte.

If you haven't yet noticed, this event is really set up to take what you already do and then make that an outstanding experience one day out of the year. It is almost more a celebration than anything else. So you just show up and hike, something you'd probably do anyway. There is no entry fee, no official start time, or anything like that. There have to be a few formalities, but we are doing our best to make them as painless and fun as possible. We are also focusing a lot on the social aspect of the event. We want the normal encouragement that people always experience on the Butte to become infectious and reach new heights. In other words, while this is a day in which it could be easier than most to hike a personal best on the Butte, the overall focus is still on having fun. Then, as a side benefit, we end up solving one of the problems that people are most concerned about on the Butte. So there is actually a kind of reward in place if you decide to go for a personal best that day. But you don't even need to do that. Hiking your normal distance, or even less, still helps us raise the funds we need. Your being there is what is most important.

As much as possible, SMB is what you need it to be. We purposely left the term "personal best" a little vague and we are glad we did. Some people have already indicated that they go by a different standard than what we had in mind. That's great and we are trying very hard to work them into the event.

In designing this event, we are kind of taking our lead from Pilot Butte's Century Club, now a 13 year old tradition on the Butte. It demonstrates the power that a simple idea can have. This event will be a big success if we can keep it simple for both the hikers and the organizers. So we invite you to come out and "hike your butt off on the Butte." You can RSVP by clicking here.