Loading Ready Run - Desert Bus For Hope

Desert Bus For Hope

Loading Ready Run is perhaps best known for their Annual "Desert Bus For Hope" event. On 23 November 2007, the group started a marathon game session of Desert Bus (a minigame from 'Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors') called Desert Bus for Hope to raise money for the charity Child's Play. The four-man team took turns playing the game continuously, with more hours added as more donations were made. The event was broadcast live via webcam, and garnered attention both from the media, and Penn & Teller, who called in, sent pizza, and made donations. By the end of the event, $22,805 had been raised, including donations from Penn and Teller themselves.

On 18 November 2008, LoadingReadyRun officially announced that they planned a second marathon run of Desert Bus which began on 28 November. The second Desert Bus lasted slightly more than five days and raised over $70,000. The crew later produced a music video entitled Desert Bus Killed the Internet Star (a parody of Video Killed the Radio Star) describing the events of the marathon.

On 25 August 2009, the third marathon run was announced, set to start on 20 November 2009. At 18:42 GMT-0 on 26 November 2009 the marathon completed, raising over $140,000 (after all e-cheques had cleared) for Child's Play. One notable donor, going by the alias "Octopimp", donated nearly $10,000 alone, becoming a mascot of sorts in the event's live chatroom and in turn inspiring many other high-number donations and auction bids.

The fourth marathon run was announced on 4 May 2010, and began on 19 November 2010 at 6:00 p.m. PST. Penn & Teller auctioned off an "Ultimate Desert Bus Experience Pack" which included a bus ticket and sand from the Las Vegas desert, signed by Penn & Teller themselves. The fourth run concluded after 5 days and 21 hours, with $208,249.82 raised. A fifth marathon run began on 18 November 2011 and went for six days and six hours, raising a total of $383,075.10.

Desert Bus 6 began Friday, 16 November 2012, and breached One Million dollars in lifetime donations on November 19th at 6:46pm