Scam_Watcheroo wrote:
Jed Wallace at Street Relations will be helping us to set up a live GPS tracker to show us in realtime where Darren Kavinoky is so that our boots on the ground can go observe whenever they are near.
Below you will find my email chain with Jed. He seems to want to help us and is actually providing useful information instead of banning us from Kavinoky's social media, so be nice. Let's lower our figurative pitchforks and wait for a bit to see what happens. In the mean time, you can distract yourselve's with the Dave/Terrie Reading thread.
Since Darren Kavinoky is flying back to LA to film Deadly Sins for the weekend and may stay in Dallas afterwards for the special event posted on WhatsMyWin, we will have some down time. The next destination city should be Hot Springs, AR according to their WhatsMyWin video.
JED WALLACE
to me
Hi Andy,
I’ve heard there were some questions circulating to various sponsors about the validity of Darren and Kyle’s journey; I’m happy someone reached out to me directly.
I know it probably won’t mean much to your group; however, Darren and Kyle are both totally committed to helping others. They both knew if they took on a journey like this they could raise awareness for issues related to overall wellness; genuinely inspire people to take responsibility for their health; honor Darren's dear friend that recently lost her battle with cancer, and recognize others making an effort to improve their lives. Under no circumstances was their intention to make money; this is strictly about sharing a positive message and finding a community of inspirational people to help those who may need support or an extra push.
As I’m sure anyone following their journey has realized, Darren and Kyle are not natural athletes and certainly never claimed to be great runners or great cyclists. In fact, Darren’s frequently shared publicly that it was always easy finding his bike during triathlons; it was the only one left, but he will always finish. While they are both extremely fit, they have day jobs and are just a couple of guys with a desire to accomplish something special and hopefully inspire others to try something extraordinary. I don’t know what he did to warrant such a vicious attack on a mission intended to be so positive. He has been transparent about everything and while I am reading a lot of speculation, it’s simply not accurate.
Again, we have nothing but respect for your group’s passion, but everyone working on this project with Darren is committed to supporting the positive message he is sharing and in no way, shape, or form believes Darren and his team are cheating in any capacity. Aside from personally watching Darren and Kyle in California and the countless video footage from the road, he and the crew have been tracked with Life360, which will allow our sponsors to see his exact path…and the very different path and course taken by the RV.
While they absolutely do all ride in the RV at times (there have been quite a few mechanical issues taking them all to various repair shops, sometimes they stay in hotels, drive to eat dinners, and drive for wellness checks during days off), they have been meticulous about their start and stop protocol by charting the locations and making sure they don’t miss a yard. If they end at one location and the hotel is miles away, they mark the spot and drive in the RV to the hotel.
While the original plan was indeed for he and Kyle to run, there were unforeseen injuries, which can certainly be verified, but it was Darren and Kyle that refused to stop. While the plan changed, the mission didn’t; cross the United States and raise awareness about ways people can improve their wellness and monitor their health for free. Nobody is asking people for money, there is no scam.
Darren’s sponsors and supporters understand that he and Kyle have not been lying, cheating, or misleading anyone; every mile has been powered by them. I can certainly understand how the interpretation of various social media posts would seem inaccurate and has been the primary method by which your group is measuring credibility; however, there are 2 off-site teams posting content on Darren's behalf, which is obviously not capturing an exact timeline and clearly not an accurate way to gauge their route or timeframes (the notion that he went 70 miles in an hour is absurd - they were riding for nearly 8 hours during that stretch and while they are starting to incorporate more walking and running into the schedule, the majority of the miles are on bikes these days). That said, I can absolutely understand the confusion and the teams working on social need to be more mindful and in-sync with posting, but the whole journey has been a learning experience across the board. The social media support team is doing the best they can, but obviously can improve; your group has certainly helped everyone involved reevaluate the way moments are shared - thank you.
All that said, without going point by point, let’s find a solution. It would be great if someone from your team actually joined them for part or several parts of their journey and saw the process for themselves. I would be more than happy to coordinate that. While their route changes frequently due to road conditions, weather, terrain, available lodging, etc. I will be happy to keep you updated on approaching cities/timelines and make sure we connect you with them and hopefully, join them.
They have nothing to hide and the team is happy to connect and work together with your group. The objective is still the same - spread a positive message and your group clearly has the passion and skillset to help. Hopefully, we can all get on the same page.
Can we coordinate a meeting on the road…or several?
Respectfully,
Jed Wallace
Founder
Street Relations Inc.
Scam Watcheroo
to JED
Hello Jed,
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I appreciate it since going through any of Darren's social media, we have only gotten useless robotic replies or have been outright banned for asking to find Darren.
The way our group typically works is that we follow the live GPS tracker online of the runner/target. We choose unannounced locations to go observe like how we did with Rob Young's transcontinental run across America last year. We have a very long history of doing this dating back a decade and is the standard procedure for any runs/events that come up on our radar.
Since you say that you and the sponsors are already tracking the location of Darren with Life360, can you share a link to that tracker with me? Is it a live GPS tracker that is standard for these type of events?
If it is not a live GPS tracker, can you get Darren to share a link to his live GPS location from the Google Maps app using his iPhone/Android he has mounted to his bike in his photos?
Use these instructions, Darren will need to share his location link each day from the Google Maps app onto Twitter so we can track him:
https://support.google.com/maps/answer/7326816?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=enIf this is done, I am confident that all negative discussion will end when we have verified Darren is doing what he says.
Sincerely,
Andy
JED WALLACE
to me
Andy,
I couldn’t be more appreciative of your response and seemingly kind/professional disposition; after reading through those posts, I wasn’t sure what to expect lol…some of it is pretty nasty. I wish in retrospect, that we had known about you and consulted you first; none of us had any clue that this was even a possible outcome. As I said, it has been a learning curve for all of us and since we were all so close to the project, we never considered that people would find anything negative about something so positive. In retrospect, I completely understand your position and truly appreciate you opening our eyes to a better way to keep the guys connected…and followers informed.
Regarding the social media responses to your inquiries and lack thereof, the teams just weren’t equipped to manage issues like that and one team has been replaced as a result. I wish I knew sooner and again, thank you for helping us recognize the need for a better system. Since they weren’t on the road, they were disconnected; however, with your insight and suggestions, we are making sure the system is dramatically improved.
For absolute clarity, our team is tracking Darren and the guys on Life360, which is also the way their families can watch their progress and stay somewhat connected, but we are absolutely happy to connect the guys to a more acceptable live tracker. The sponsors are not linked directly to Life360; however, they are more than welcome to have access and see their charted progress. That said, we need the best way for your team and anyone interested to track their work in real-time…I will make sure it happens in Dallas before they get back on the road.
Thank you for sending the link - we are looking at a few options and I will keep you posted. Feel free to reach out to me whenever you like - happy we connected and appreciate you’re willingness to help us get aligned with your team.
Respectfully,
Jed Wallace
Founder
Street Relations Inc.
Scam Watcheroo
to JED
Hello Jed,
Thanks for considering setting up a live GPS for us. I will share our conversation with the others so they don't go crazy.
We are usually a pretty relaxed bunch except when we suspect funny business since everyone has some kind of running or cycling background over there and lots are competitive athletes that know what kinds of efforts to expect. Some will be more mature than others.
Sincerely,
Andy
JED WALLACE
to me
Thanks, Andy!
Again, I completely understand where you’re coming from and fully respect/support the need for better connectivity.
It’s not just consideration, we will make sure to have a live GPS component in place so everyone is on the same page.
Appreciate the respectful communication.
Jed Wallace
Founder
Street Relations Inc.