Im sure you’ve seen the recent ‘Run for Heroes’ challenge across social media raising money for the NHS. The concept is simple, you run 5km (or miles if you’re feeling particularly brave), donate £5 to the NHS and tag 5 friends to do the same.
This simple act goes a little way to show the immense gratitude we all hold for the heroic nurses and doctors fighting the pandemic on the frontline. Yet the spread of this campaign is in part due to the parallels it holds with the corona virus itself.
Consider this, let’s call the creator of the challenge the index case, or patient zero. They go on to nominate 5 of their friends, giving a reproductive rate of 5 (or the R0=5). From there, these friends go on to nominate 5 more friends and within just 10 generations over 1,950,000 people are running 5km. Raising almost £10,000,000.
Interestingly, the growth rate of this viral campaign mimics the reproductive rate of the virus it is seeking to overcome. Turning the very thing that makes it so virulent against itself. This reminds us why the term ‘viral’ is used to describe prolific campaigns such as this.
If you want to get involved, head over to the Run for heroes donation page to find out more. Just don’t forget to tag 5 friends and help spread this brilliant viral trend.
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