Whereas previous year's events had operated on a 24-hour-a-day schedule, this year's event is running on a reduced schedule to allow or better volunteer overlap and to keep the event engaging throughout.
The team at TheSpeedGamers have indicated that they view this as a temporary change, and that they hope to return to full 24-hour coverage for future marathons.
As usual for these events, Bulbagarden will be embedding the charity stream on Bulbapedia and in the sidebar on the Bulbagarden forums during the event. For more information, event updates, and announcements, you can follow TheSpeedGamers team on Bluesky at @thespeedgamers.bsky.social, join their official Discord server, and visit their official website, tsg.tv.
TheSpeedGamers are a group of video game enthusiasts who play for marathon hours to raise money for charities. Established in 2008, the group have raised over $949,000 for various charities through their marathons. Founded out of Arlington, Texas by Britt and Chase LaRiviere, its original concept was a source of gaming reviews that eventually turned into an idea to run themed marathons with a speedrunning focus, completing games or objectives within games (such as full Pokédex completion) as quickly as possible. They have been holding Pokémon events since December 2008, with most Pokémon-themed events taking place in that month since then. TheSpeedGamers typically encourage donations towards St. Jude in their Pokémon marathons through a range of gameplay, commentary, contests, and prize incentives.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital seeks to treat and defeat childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases, and aims to advance cures and means of prevention for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. St. Jude’s mission is to provide world-class care to children and families at no cost to them. Consistent with the vision of St. Jude founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion, or a family’s ability to pay.
