Can’t Afford #PrincessHalf? Consider Running For a Cause
We all know how awesome the running community is- seriously, the best group of people I have ever met! Runners must have the biggest hearts around- literally and figuratively.
From the purple of Team in Training to the bright yellow of Ronald McDonald House, charity runners are a colorful and awesome bunch! But what does it mean to run for a charity?
runDisney supplies this information about the charity groups:
Benefits of Booking with an Official Charity Group
- Guaranteed race entry even if races sell out.
- Specially-priced Walt Disney World Resort Hotel rates.
- Specially-priced Walt Disney World Theme Park Tickets.
- Select discounts on other race weekend amenities.
- Satisfaction of making a difference through fundraising and running for the organization of your choice.
A couple of things to point out here.
1- Guaranteed entry (usually you don’t pay for the entry either!) for a potentially sold out race. If you miss the window to the Glass Slipper Challenge this week, consider checking out one of the charities that will be listed on the runDisney page. The clock may say midnight- but you may still have a chance to go to the ball!
2- Make a difference! You are going to put in the miles, run the race, and have a fabulous time. Why not share that joy and love to others by way of raising funds for a worthy cause? With so many options historically listed, any runner would be sure to find a cause to match up!
The current list is not available just yet, but I did some research on my own. I’ve confirmed Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Georgia, Give Kids the World, and Leukemia & Lymphoma Society will all be offering charity bibs at the 2014 Princess Half Marathon.
If you aren’t quite ready to sign up for full on fundraising, consider something REALLY easy. Download an app! A FREEEEEEE app!
Charity Miles tracks the miles you run, and a sponsor donates $.25 per mile to your cause. While training or racing, you can be earning donation. So easy and so worthwhile! I just signed up to continue to raise funds for the Wounded Warrior Project (we ran a 10K in Dallas supporting them- recap to come this week!) Kinda awesome that all those miles I’ll be putting on my legs in the coming months will be going toward a worthy charity.
Quite a few of my running friends are going the charity route this year.
Patty Holliday has been running Disney since 2011. She knows just about every tip, trick, and hack there is to cover the runDisney Magical Miles at Disney World and Disneyland. She knows every mile isn’t *always* magical- but with training, tips, and a little bit of pixie dust, they can be a lot of fun! You can also find her at noguiltlife.com and noguiltfangirl.com
Thanks for the shout out! I’ll be sure to share my link with y’all as soon as GKTW reg opens up! I’m excited!
I’m excited for you! I think it’s going to be an awesome experience!
I just saw this and would LOVE to run for GKTW. I’m a Make-A-Wish volunteer in Texas. How hard is it to join the team? Registration is not open for the GKTW team yet? Thanks, I am a newbie to the whole RUN DISNEY arena. 🙂
Hi Rebecca –
The GKTW team is open for marathon weekend in January. The info is up for Princess, but I don’t think it is active yet. http://www.gktw.org/run
Miranda
Whooo hooo! Go Team Run GKTW!!!! What an awesome cause!! See you there in my polka dotted shirt!! Thanks for the shout out Patty!!
You got it!
I’m running for St Jude Heroes for Wine & Dine this year. Super scary but do exciting at the same time. If it goes well I will for sure do it again.
Link it Suzanne! 🙂 I love St. Jude’s Heroes!
Thanks Patty! Totally wasn’t trying to divert attention from Amy and Miranda. 🙂
http://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR/Heroes/Heroes?px=2238743&pg=personal&fr_id=4960
There’s a lot of big hearts and wallets out there! 😉 Sometimes one cause is what resonates- I welcome any charity runner to share their links on this post!
Thank you :). So excited to represent St Jude…
I was at the Wounded Warrior Half Marathon this weekend too! I ran the half marathon! 🙂
I love that app you talked about in your post, I am going to check it out!
Ha! Small world Lauren! How was the water crossing?! CRAZY!
Oh my gosh there was one point where we had no choice but to go through ankle deep water! Thank goodness it was not until mile 11 ish though! Other than that, great weather for the race 🙂
I saw that in a picture! It was humid- 94%- but thankfully cool enough to make it not suck. Too much. lol
Give kids the world is such an awesome organization! Have a great time during the princess half! It is my fav rundisney race!!
Michelle Erin
I can’t wait- it’s going to be the best one ever! I can feel it!
I love donating to Animal Charities/shelters and I have run for March of Dimes in the past.
That’s awesome- thanks for giving back! Runners are the best. 🙂
I would love to know more about how to sign up with a team and all that is involved and how it all works.
Each charity will do things differently. Here’s some examples:
RMHC – you buy your race entry, but have lower fundraising numbers (min $500). No room or plane tickets provided.
GKTW- you don’t pay anything up front, but you need to raise $3000 for the weekend. It includes room and 1 park ticket and race fee- not air.
Leukemia Lymphoma Society also has you raise $3000-4000ish (not sure exact amount) but they cover air, room and race entry.
There will be additional charities listed on rD site- keep checking this week! You will contact whichever one you are interested in and find out the complete details.
Hope you find one you can support!
Feeding America is near and dear to my heart. I’ve been using Charity Miles for a few months now. I have never ran for a charity before.
Thats awesome Teresa! What a great charity.
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I was having an identity crisis… ‘Deanna is watching’ was meant to sound like I’m very observant, but it just looks creepy so I changed it to Deannarunsround, to match Twitter and Instagram. I just figured out how to edit it in Google.
Now back to your regularly scheduled program.
LOL Deanna! Too funny. I like Deannarunsaround though!
Wish I’d known about Charity Miles 40 miles ago! Thanks for letting me place a link! I am raising funds for Give Kids the World, too: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/DeannaDietrich/wdwmarathonweekend2014
Good luck Deanna! And right- that app is awesome! I just learned about it too!
I ran Goofy for charity this year — though I had already purchased my entry! The group I run with has relatively low fundraising amounts but we pay for all of our stuff (entry, travel, room etc) which is fine with me cause I’m not great at fundraising!
Good luck to ALL the charity runners!!!
Goofy + charity = makes you AWESOME! Nice job Anne!
I’ve never done this before but I would love to run for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as my mother has blood cancer. I want to sign up but I don’t see it as an option right now. I hope it comes out soon.
It’s open now! Check this post for the link to L&LS!
http://margaritasmilesandmouse.blogspot.com/2013/06/clock-strikes-midnight-glass-slipper.html
I’m a Navy spouse and an Air Force veteran so supporting the military is very important to me. For the second year in a row I’m running MCM with Team Fisher House. The Fisher House provides a very cost home away from home for military families when their loved one is receiving long term medical care. This keeps their families close to the hospital but gives them some comfort when they aren’t at the hospital.
http://www.teamfisherhouse.org/site/TR/Event/General?px=1004730&pg=personal&fr_id=1099
Wonderful organization Lisa! Thanks for sharing and thanks for your families service. Former Army wife here. 🙂
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