Funding and costs of Extreme Expeditions

“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.”

Or so wrote Haruki Murakami in his book, ‘What I Talk About When I Talk About Running’.

Athletes of all levels are familiar with the pain and suffering the body goes through in order to achieve any given goal. Whether it be your first ever 5k or your final miles of a 20,000 mile run, pain cannot be avoided.

But what drives a person to opt for the harder path? Perhaps the answer is not that endurance athletes choose suffering, but that they have the mentality to overcome it. Athletes need to be rigorous with their training, and always have their eye on the long-term goal rather than the short-term gain.

They have a drive. A competitive and determined streak that fuels their wildest ambitions. Extreme expeditions and challenges, like everything in the modern day, are progressing rapidly. Boundaries are being pushed regularly and the what was once impossible is now a catalyst for something even greater.

Challenges of an extreme nature are not selfish acts by any stretch. Often, an incredible feat is a platform for inspiring support of a particular cause. An athlete is ready to endure pain for a greater cause or good. They do it for charity and for causes which require our utmost attention and support.

Costs involved

Anything that involves a lot of travel and sustenance / accommodation is going to rack up some big bills.

As far as rowing goes, the single toughest challenge any rower can take on is to navigate their way across the Atlantic Ocean. A team will require funding in the region of £70,000 to £100,000 to set sail.

Want to climb Mount Everest?  Then set aside 100k and a lot of time.  Even doing an ultra race like the Marathon Des Sables can cost up to 10k.

Depending on the type of adventure your going on you may require a lot of gear so it’s never going to be chap and athlete have to look at way to fund these adventures.

Funding Extreme Expeditions and Challenges

There are a variety of options:

Sponsorship

Sponsorship is the one everyone wants.  If you cam get a company or brand to back your adventure then you have a lot of security going forward.  We’ve put together a detail guide here on – sponsorship advice 

Fundraising

Online fundraising has become the main stay of funding adventures.  Setting up an online fundraising page allows your supporters to support you with donations but also very importantly, follow and take a vested interest in you adventure.

Over the years on PledgeSports we’ve helped athletes run across America, climb Everest, row across the Atlantic well as a host of other adventure runs and cycles around the world.   Watching these athletes fundraise and the commence their trip is highly rewarding and one thing we’ve learnt is this – The more interactive and the more you share your experience, then more money you will raise.   It’s really the best advice we can give.

We’ve seen athletes become very popular and gotten huge media coverage, all by being super active on social media and sharing their experience with their followers.

Thinking about getting involved in an epic adventure?  Get in touch and see how we can help you fund it!

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