The popularity of marathons are on the rise. You hear of more and more "regular" people who are training to run in the next marathon. So the fact that there's talk of a nationwide "Reading Marathon" this October (2008) is very interesting. Maybe it will be the start of a new trend that will sweep the nation.
According to "Shelf Awareness", a great daily newsletter that frequents my inbox, a 24 hour reading marathon was organized in February of 2008 by RiverRun Bookstore out of Portsmouth, N.H. The successful run of the event led to a recent invitation for booksellers across the country to organize their own reading marathons this October!
Here's how it works: readers ask friends/family to sponsor to them. Participants read for a full 24 hours. Prizes are given out to participants that raise the highest dollar amounts to donate to local non-profits. The purpose of the reading marathons would be to aid local non-profit agencies in need as well as raising awareness of books and reading!
For more information on the upcoming event you can get in touch with one of the original collaborators, Michele Filgate, at riverrunevents@gmail.com. Should be fun to see how it all turns out! Get in touch with your local independent bookstores to encourage them to participate in the event!
