"Leyawiins' Run" is an in game memorial event I am orchestrating. It's a Death Run which loosely follows the same path of the familiar dwarf we see in the opening cinematic trailer for World of Warcraft: Forever - Starting from Dun Morogh, and ending at Mount Hyjal.
What's a "Death Run"? it's essentially just running through high level content as a low level character. In some cases, corpse-running repeatedly to gradually inch through tough, or mob-dense areas.
Who is this in memory of?
"Leyawiins" is the name of my sister's main character. She's a Night Elf Druid - you might have seen her in game if you played on Emerald Dream around 2008. She introduced me to WoW, and I have a lot of fond memories playing with her, talking about the game, asking advice, doing low level raids, and so much more. We mostly stopped playing after Cataclysm, but those early days still held a special place in our hearts.
In 2023, she passed away from metastatic breast cancer.
This run is dedicated to her. I know she would have loved to experience seeing these long awaited additions to this world we gave so much of ourselves to.
But, I know I can't be the only one who has had the misfortune of losing someone so deeply important. Someone who they were instantly reminded of when seeing that iconic first few seconds of the trailer.
How to participate
If you want to join the run
Meet me at Coldridge Valley, Dun Morough on November 7th around 10:00 AM CDT. I'll update the site with my character name when it's been put together.
I anticipate the run to take about 4 hours or so. There are planned checkpoints along the way where we will stop and break to allow people to rest, stretch, use the restroom, etc.
This will take place on PVE, so more people can casually participate - and actually make it to Hyjal.
If you're subbed, you should already have access to WoW: Forever, and shouldn't need to pay any additional cost. You can bring a leveled character if you want, but the run can be performed by a fresh character also if you're okay with death running.
Part of the reason I chose launch week for this, is because I have friend passes I want to use to get some of my IRL friends involved in the run. Might be a good opportunity to use up those remaining friend passes.
There's a written route I'm taking if you're interested in knowing which you can view here, but memorizing it ahead of time isn't required if you're planning to follow me for the duration of the run.
If you want to watch
Shortly before the event, I will be updating the site to contain an embedded stream, or you can view the stream directly on the Leyawiins' Run youtube channel. If you get lost or want to join late, feel free to check the stream and meet us along the route, or just watch if you'd rather not join the walk.
Why am I doing this?
This is not a fundraiser, and is not sponsored or backed by anyone or anything. This is just a thing I wanted to do - a thing I thought might be fun to open up for others to participate in. If you're compelled to do something about those suffering from cancer, consider donating to your cancer research charity of choice. I will not be accepting donations or gifts of any kind, so please do not offer.