Charity Triathlons - Should I enter?

Charlotte Brown

Hi All,

I was wondering how other people feel about Charity Triathlons in terms of wanting to take part in the event but not necessarily wanting to fundraise for a specific cause. I'm not talking about not making any donation at all but more in terms of setting up fund raising pages, asking friends and family for sponsorship, pledging to raise a specific amount etc. 

I have entered a number of Triathlons over the last couple of years including Woburn and Blenheim which are very charity/fundraising focused. I wanted to do these triathlons out of personal preference and challenge and not because I want to fundraise for a specific charity.

Even though it states on the entry information that fundraising is not obligatory on all these event, I did feel quite pressured into fundraise for both ( I did end up fundraising for a local cause at the Woburn Tri ).

I got lots of emails from the organisers and charities asking for me to fundraise for them. I also got several phone calls from charities (something I wasn't aware they could do) asking me to support them. I am not in any way against fundraising and am more than happy to give a personal donation at these events but I just don't want to keep ask my friends and family for money and commit to rasing X amount of money just so I can take part in the race. 

I feel like it's almost frowned upon that I just want to take part in these events and not fundraise. It's put me off entering some other events that I would have liked to do  does anyone else feel like this or am I just being over sensitive!?