Fun Fundraising...

Just a quick update:
I'm going to match the first $300 in donations on this, so let's get 'em in!
For the record, I think Steve will feel the strength on his competition and will complete several minutes under what the experts say he should expect. Plus, I know Steve and he's a competitive dude. My guess: 10 hours, 21 Minutes.
Fun Fun Fun.

All,
One of my old friends from High School in Stuttgart Germany has created a fun idea for a fundraiser for ALS research. He's participating in his first full Ironman Triathlon on August 30th, and has decided to create a contest to guess his time and is going to give an IPod Nano to the closest time. All that is needed to participate in the fun is a donation to the "Hope for Heidi" page, which benefits ALS-TDI. He sent his note out to friends on Facebook, but I figured I'd re-post it here and see who else might want to participate.

Here is his original message, the link to donate is there, and if you would like to participate, donate and then post your time as a message to the blog here, on on the "Hope for Heidi" page with the amount of your donation. Note that the donations on that site do NOT update automatically, even if done via a credit card, so don't expect the little thermometer to move up right away.
All the best,
Bill
=======Begin Steve's Message=====
Hi gang. As most of you know, my/our friend Bill Sedgwick's wife Heidi has ALS -- a terminal condition for which there is currently no cure. It goes without saying that Bill, Heidi and the kids could use our help.

As you may also know, I'm racing Ironman Canada on August 30. And since completing an Ironman requires a tremendous amount Karma, I've created a fund raising contest that I call: "WIN AN IPOD NANO BY GUESSING STEVE'S IRONMAN CANADA FINISHING TIME". (Catchy huh?) It's simple. Here's how to play:
1. Right now, (or at the latest before August 29), make a donation, no matter how small or large at the following website:https://hopeforheidi.alscommunity.org/
2. Send an email to me at skukta@gmail.com and guess my finishing time for Ironman Canada (hours, minutes and seconds, i.e. 10:30:24 or whatever your guess is.)
3. If you are closest to guessing my finishing time, I will send you a new Ipod Nano. (Ties go to the person who made their donation earlier -- the "punish the slacker" rule, I call it.) Nothing else to it. Donate, guess, help a friend.

So that the contest is fair, here's some information to help you estimate my finishing time.
1. This year I have done five (5) Half-Ironman Events. My average finishing time was 5 hours 3 minutes.
2. Knowledgeable folks say that an Ironman is at least 2 times as hard as a half-Ironman PLUS 30 minutes -- if you're having a good race.
3. The Ironman Canada course appears to be average in difficulty.
4. The race cut-off time is 17 hours and 0 minutes. The race starts at 7:00 a.m. Pacific Time on Aug. 30.
You can watch the race and track me at http://www.ironmanlive.com/. Maybe you'll see me run through the tape at the time you predicted, holding a picture of the Sedgwicks.
Thanks everyone. Steve
====End Steve's Message=====