On December 27, Fran Finney, the widow of early Bitcoin contributor Hal Finney, announced a charity half marathon in her husband’s honor on Twitter.
“Running Bitcoin” is the name of the event. Its goal is to raise funds for research into ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Hal Finney was diagnosed with the disease in 2009 and died of complications in 2014.
Fran Finney commented on Twitter:
“We are determined to find a cure for this devastating condition and any support you can provide will make a big difference.”
Donations in Bitcoin and fiat currency are being accepted through the event’s website, runningbitcoin.us. Contributors who donate at least $100 will receive a free commemorative t-shirt. The top 25 contributors will each receive an autographed Hal Finney collectible from Fran Finney.
Over $8,600 has been raised for the campaign, including $4,023 from Fran Finney herself. The organizers hope to raise a total of $50,000.
The half marathon will be held between January 1 and January 10. Participants can complete the distance in a single day or over the course of the event. Prior to his ALS diagnosis, Hal Finney ran long distances frequently, and the Running Bitcoin event page refers to the half marathon as Hal’s “favorite distance.”
The event’s name also alludes to an early tweet in which Hal Finney wrote “running bitcoin,” indicating that he had started running a Bitcoin node. He was the second person after Satoshi Nakamoto to run a Bitcoin node.
Fran Finney took over her husband’s Twitter account earlier this month to keep it from being deleted due to Elon Musk’s anti-spam policies. She stated that she would continue to tweet from her husband’s account on an irregular basis.
