There’s nothing better than charity, especially when it takes you through a dangerous, tiger-filled jungle packed with animals that want to tear your insides out.
World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth saw exactly that today with the eleventh annual Great Gnomeregan Run! Also known as the Running of the Gnomes, the event took place earlier today at 4:00 PM PST/7:00 PM EST.
Active since 2009, the event grew so popular in the community that Blizzard eventually made it an official event. While the micro-holiday is active on all servers all day, the primary event took place on Scarlet Crusade.
We wrote up about the event earlier today, which you can catch up on here. Hundreds of Gnomes dressed in pink ran for support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, with specific focus on the Tuohy Vaccine.
The run began just outside of the starting zone for Gnomes, with tradition dictating that players create a fresh level 1 for the run, though there were a few higher levels to help protect when possible. From there, players joined guilds en masse, equipping pink shirts and tabards for the run.
It was a heartwarming moment of the community coming together, with dozens of individuals handing out pink shirts and gold to buy tabards. Once everyone was set, the race began at the drop of the hour, with so many gnomes running that the server began to lag out.
From there, using the quest for the micro-holiday, players ran through to Ironforge, hitting the gates on the way as checkmarks. Boarding the tram, the racers stopped outside of Stormwind to let as many people catch up as possible – there’s no prize for winning, just running!
Thirty-four gates needed to be hit all in all, but since the quest is really just to keep tallies, the gates are more to guide the way. That way was more than a bit treacherous, leading through the wilds of Duskwood and through the woods of the higher-level Stranglethorn Vale through to Booty Bay.
There wasn’t any shortage of bloodshed. While the higher-level escorts did what they could to keep mobs away, hundreds of level 1 gnomes attract a few predators, and there were dozens of casualties on the way to Booty Bay. But the goal was reached!
Afterward, hundreds of the gnomes descended upon Orgrimmar, taking on the leadership of the city in an ill-fated invasion. While there was no success, there are hundreds of gnome skeletons in Orgrimmar now – a victory for everyone!
Some players managed to make it as far as the Wyvern’s Tail, a popular roleplaying spot for Horde roleplayers, as well as a safe haven. Most importantly, the race was completed, and a massive amount of awareness and funds were directed towards the Tuohy Vaccine with the completion of the Eleventh Annual Great Gnomeregan Run.
