Thu 7 Sep 2023 • Nick Kershaw
Why Team Up For the Guatemala Impact Marathon?
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The Guatemala Impact Marathon is not simply a running event; it's an interdisciplinary experience blending athleticism, social impact, and cultural immersion. Within this complex framework, participating as part of a collective—whether that's friends, a running club, or a corporate group—offers distinct advantages that can heighten the experience in profound ways. This article delves into the manifold benefits of team participation in this unique event.
Cultural Enrichment: A Collective Experience
Guatemala, with its rich Mayan heritage and stunning natural vistas, provides a unique setting for a marathon event. Experiencing the cultural richness as a team augments individual understanding and creates a shared cultural context that fosters group cohesion. The way an Impact Marathon weaves a narrative through the week, linking together historical events with societal challenges today will push each individual to see the world in a different light. This presents a spectrum of group discussions to work through the thoughts, feelings, and, ideas that are catalysed through the experience.
Social Impact: The Multiplicative Effect
The event aims to provide tangible support to critical areas of local community development, such as clean water and education. Operating within a team structure can facilitate an exponential increase in the societal impact of fundraising efforts. Moreover, the collective engagement in social outreach activities lends an additional layer of depth to the experience. In Guatemala, our focus is on the immense importance of leadership. We work with an immensely inspiring but exceptionally thought through organisation called SERES. They catalyse true, lasting change through training youth leaders to hone their voice, capture their communities with their vision for the future, and make progress through their Community Action Plans. There is a deep power found in young leaders, and the impact of your group race in Guatemala will last generations.
Psychological Dynamics: Teamwork and Motivation
Running a marathon is an exercise in both individual resilience and collective coordination. The psychology of teamwork can offer additional layers of motivation during both the preparatory phase and the marathon itself. Collective goals and shared responsibilities serve as mutual reinforcement mechanisms, promoting a cohesive and motivated team unit. We do not believe running is a solo sport, indeed, we believe that when we run together, we share ourselves: we share who we are. Some share this openly, talking about the motivations they are happy to let others know. Others do not share so freely. Experience tells us that it is the motivations that we do not open up about that hold most power - and when we collect all these silent motivations, we create a unifying force that elevates each of us. This moment, this moment of collection connectedness is what makes an Impact Marathon such a truly powerful experience.
Corporate Social Responsibility: Beyond Tick-Box Approaches
For corporate groups, the Guatemala Impact Marathon offers an innovative approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Unlike traditional CSR activities, participating as a team in this event provides an immersive, hands-on experience that aligns corporate goals with broader societal needs, simultaneously promoting team cohesion and employee engagement. We do not see any donation, be they corporate or individual, as a end point: no, a donation is the start line. We too often see the donation as a tick-box exercise but that misses two huge opportunities: firstly, we miss the opportunity to give a true deep felt purpose to our teams and each person who works with us; secondly, we lose the chance for the organisations we support to share their narrative, their story. You see, with an Impact Marathon, that narrative is led not by our team, not by our Impact Runners, but by our partners. The story of each donation comes alive each and every time we put the storytelling into the hands of the youth leaders - it's incredible.
Knowledge Sharing: The Interdisciplinary Approach
The Guatemala Impact Marathon transcends the boundaries of a mere athletic event by incorporating elements of cultural education, social awareness, and community engagement. Participating as a team provides a multi-disciplinary platform for knowledge sharing, enriching each member’s experience by offering diverse perspectives and insights into Guatemalan culture and social issues. We give plenty of space through the week for each Impact Runner to learn, open up, ask questions, and bring their lived experience to the group. This is magical, truly magical. We blend the serious, with the light-hearted; the quiet energy, with the high energy; the relaxation with the hard work. It's a week shaped to be unlike any running or travel experience you've ever had - and each one of you is essential to making everyone's time in Guatemala utterly life-changing.
The Phenomenology of Group Experience
The act of crossing the finish line in a marathon is a potent emotional experience. Within a team context, this becomes a collective emotional high point, a shared memory that symbolises individual as well as group achievement. What happens on race day will live with you forever: the people you shared these moments with become lifelong friends. So whether you all head back to your workplace or run club together, or whether you connected with Impact Runners outside your group, the relationships last a lifetime.
Conclusion
While participating in a marathon offers an enriching experience in its own right, opting to engage in the Guatemala Impact Marathon as part of a collective provides a multi-dimensional platform that amplifies the cultural, social, and psychological benefits of the event. It offers an intellectually and emotionally enriching paradigm that challenges conventional definitions of marathon running, teamwork, and social impact.
You can either register directly for you and your team here
