Hey, the fifth Community Endurance Run is happening this weekend! Under the thoughtful leadership of @thatpinguino, a whole host of community members are gather together to stream for the entire weekend to raise $3,000 for Pencils of Promise, which helps train teachers and build schools in developing areas of the world. I'm going to be participating myself this evening after UPF, as I use my feminine wiles to try and win an online tournament of Magic: The Gathering. It's probably going to go poorly! Other cool stuff on the docket: a FFIX speedrun, the possibility of Super Meat Boy being played using only the feet of @nickieroonie, and possible complete playthroughs of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus by @rothgar, as well as other shenanigans.

He's...he's right behind me, isn't he?

Head over to explosiveruns.com to catch the action and chat with everyone starting at 3 PM PST today, or head right here to donate to the cause. There are some great raffle prizes for anyone who donates, including five gently-handled copies of the autographed Nighthawks poster that we sold last year. Thatpinguino wrote a huge post about the Community Endurance Run in the forums, but to give you all an idea of what's going on, I'm going to copy and paste it all right here!

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The Giantbomb Community Endurance Run is BACK to fill the gaping Endurance Run-shaped hole in your life! The Community Endurance Run is going to kick off after Unprofessional Fridays on April the 10th and run through Sunday April 12th.

Several awesome members of the Giantbomb community are going to be streaming raw, uncut, un-stepped-on videogame action on Explosiveruns.com in order to raise money for charity!

The charity we are supporting this year is Pencils of Promise, a non-profit which works with communities in developing countries around the world to build schools and change lives. One hundred percent of the funds donated online to Pencils of Promise go into building schools, training teachers, sending kids to school, and improving sanitation.

Last year we raised enough money to send 4 kids to school for a year, but we think that the GB community can do even better this year. We think that this community is so awesome that we can send 12 kids to school this year! It only costs $250 to send a child to school for one year, so we only need to raise $3,000 total. For the price of three copies of Garou: Mark of the Wolves you can send 12 kids to school for a year!

Go here to donate now!

We are going to have a number of different events, prizes, and donation incentives running all weekend so be sure to mark the GBCER on your calendar and get ready for the fun and the funding. After last year's FFVIII/MGS3 speed run showdown, the impromptu Pokemon Snap speed run, and the enthralling readings of vampire/wizard love how can you not tune in!

There will be ongoing updates every week leading up to the event so keep checking in!

If you would like to participate in the Community Endurance Run then PM me and I’ll get you in on the action. Get #GBCER5 trending! Get hype!

You can watch all of the streams, chat and donate on explosiveruns.com!

nom*ables bakery is donating 10% of every purchase you make on their website (before shipping) during the Community Endurance Run to Pencils of Promise! Click here to peruse their fine pastries! Thanks again to nom*ables for sponsoring the GBCER West team and for providing several lovely prize packages!

Schedule (Barring last minute additions or alterations):

Friday:

Directly After Unprofessional Fridays:

We are throwing a Magic the Gathering Friday Night Magic with the GB community! Hosted by @thatpinguino, @rothgar, @bollard, @corevi, and judged by @descends. Vote on the format of the first GBCER FNM Here! Sign up for the events here!

@amlabella, @vash10, and @jeffrud are going to be playing a JRPG of some kind, but they don't know which. Vote on our JRPG Endurance Run here! Suikoden II or Chrono Cross? You decide!

@blu3v3nom07 is going to be playing Ori and the Blind Forest and GTA V Online! When his stream stops or changes nobody knows!

After the GBCER FNM:

GB FNM Standard Royal Rumble! There is a championship belt on the line and the last person standing will be the champion. All challengers welcome! Who will be able to defeat the monster that is @rorie? Who!?

After Unprofessional Fridays - 12AM:

Find the Secret of Mana with @personz!

After Unprofessional Fridays - 2AM:

Resident Evil 4 with @nickieroonie!

Directly After Unprofessional Fridays - 3AM:

@blzzzrrttt is going to be playing Remember Me to completion! Remember that!

7PM - ?:

INTERVIEW WITH GREG KASAVIN OF SUPERGIANT GAMES (FORMERLY OF EA AND GAMESPOT) by @thatpinguino!!!

9PM - 12AM:

Beer and a game with @upperdecker and the rest of Rogue Ocean Gaming! Join them for some beers, games, and interviews with indie devs!

Saturday:

3AM - 9AM:

Korean magic with @danteveli and some games! I don't know what exactly is happening during this block, but I bet it will be fun.

5AM - 1PM:

Resident Evil Remake and Net Yaroze with @twolines!

5AM - ?:

@jedted will be playing State of Decay and possibly some of Telltale's Game of Thrones! Zombies and political intrigue go together like bees and honey!

8AM - ?:

LA Noir + All DLC Endurance Run with @zolloz89!

9AM - 11PM:

Final Fantasy IX And Shadow of the Colossus Shrine Climb Speed Run Race with @thatpinguino, @rothgar, @descends, and more!

10AM - 7PM:

Resident Evil 5 co-op with @the_boots and @lochnessie82!

11AM - 10PM:

Finishing up RE4 and playing Alan Wake with @nickieroonie!

12PM - 2PM:

@blzzzrrttt is going to be playing cornucopia of rougue-likes!

2PM - 5PM:

@blzzzrrttt is going to be speedrunning Lisa with on of the game's developers, Austin Jorgensen/Dingaling, riding shotgun for an interview/ co-commentary!

5PM-?:

@blzzzrrttt will be playing all of Killer is Dead!

7PM - 11:30PM:

Another pack of beer and a game with @upperdecker and the rest of Rogue Ocean Gaming. What games will they play and what beers will they drink this time?

9PM - 5AM:

@meatsofevil and his friends will be kicking off an Endurance Run of Siren for the PS2.

10PM-12AM:

Super Feet Boy with @nickieroonie! @nickieroonie will play Super Meat Boy with his feet if we raise $1500 by the time this event rolls around on the schedule!

Sunday:

12AM -2AM:

@nickieroonie will be giving his feet a short respite by playing Alan Wake!

3AM - 10AM:

More Resident Evil Remake and Net Yaroze with @twolines!

5AM - 8AM:

@meatsofevil and friends will be playing SNES games, including high level Tetris Battle Gaiden, and potentially some Persona 4 new game +.

8AM - 2PM:

@meatsofevil will be finishing off Siren for the PS2. Tune in for the horror!

10AM - 11AM:

Chocobo Racing campaign speed run and other dumb Chocobo Racing stuff with @thatpinguino!

11AM - 3PM:

South Park: The Stick of Truth speed run with @thatpinguino!

12PM - 1PM:

@blzzzrrttt will be playing a few more rogue-likes!

1PM - 2PM:

Interview of Dylan Barry/RAILSLAVEGAMES (developer of //SNOWFLAKE TATTOO// and Selfie: Sisters of the Amniotic Lens) by @blzzzrrttt!

2PM - 12AM:

Metal Gear Power Hours with @blzzzrrttt. Our intrepid hero is going to be playing through all of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zereos! So much sneaking!

Prizes:

If you want to be entered into a prize raffle then include the prize you would like to win in the comment with your donation. Some prizes will have a minimum donation associated with them so check out their description for further details. Send me a pm if you have already donated and would like to be entered into the raffle.

5 x Nighthawks Posters signed by the GB staff! Minimum $20 donation to enter this raffle.

1 x Bastion Cold War Kid Poster signed by Greg Kasavin and Logan Cunningham of the Supergiant Games Team! Minimum $20 donation to enter this raffle.

Over 300 Steam and Origin Game Codes! Minimum $5 donation to enter this raffle.

1 x Hand Painted Giantbomb Wallet! Minimum $5 donation to enter this raffle. Maximum of 4 tickets per donor.

Several fresh batches of delicious pastry prizes from nom*ables Pastries in Portland, OR! Check out the announcement post in the comments to see all of the amazing cookies and bundles (I won some cookies from nom*ables last year and they were freaking scrumptious). Minimum $5 donation to enter these raffles.

2 x Gotta Catch 'Em All prize packs from nom*ables and Pixeloisis! These packs include one Pokenom cookie and one mystery Pokemon necklace! Minimum $5 donation to enter this raffle.

1 x Chat Noir Apothicaire Lavender Gift Set! It's all hand made and ultra luxurious. The the gift set includes an 8oz bottle of lotion, 4oz of sea salt scrub, a lip balm and a lavender sachet to make your clothes or closet smell fantastic! Check them out here Chat Noir Apothicaire. Minimum $10 donation to enter this raffle.

Donation Incentives:

FFIX:

You can place a bid on any name-able character's name with your donation. Simply include the character and the name you would like in your donation comment. So If you want Vivi to be named something dumb you have a month!

We are also open to other potential donation incentive ideas for FFIX so feel free to pitch! There aren't as many obvious optional things in FFIX to throw into a run without completely blowing up some basic speed run aspects like Excalibur II.

If we raise $1000 by the time I get to Dali in FFIX, I will finish the entire Stellazzio sidequest!

If we raise $2000 before I reach the final boss rush, I will complete the entire chocobo sidequest!

Super Feet Boy:

If we raise $1500 by 10pm est on Saturday, April 11th then @nickieroonie will play through all of Super Meat Boy using only his feet! You know you want to see that nonsense.

Also you can include a nail polish request with your donation $5 per nail. It is a Super Feet Boy run after all. I suggest pandas or penguins . Update: pandas and penguins have been handled. I now suggest rainbows or flowers. Update: Flowers and Rainbows have been handled. I now suggest fishies and rabbits. Only 6 toes remain!

JRPG Endurance Run:

Both Chrono Cross and Suikoden II feature a ton of different characters. We're letting viewers decide our party, so feel free to donate and leave a comment with the name of the character you'd like to see. Any dollar amount will do, as we're going to pick the characters with the highest donation totals. Folks can donate right now on our fundraising page, so feel free to get started on that prior to the event on April 10-12.

Shadow of the Colossus:

If we raise $2000 before the Tower climb is complete, @rothgar will pause the game and play through all of Ico before returning to Shadow of the Colossus. Please reach this goal while he is climbing something or fighting something.

Lisa:

If we raise $1500 before Saturday @blzzzrrttt will complete the wrestling side quest in Lisa!

MGS V: Ground Zeroes:

If we raise $2214 by Sunday @blzzzrrttt will complete the Deja-Vu and Jamais-vu Side-ops!