Charity runner

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Charity runners wearing superhero costumes in 2008 London Marathon 005 London Marathon vaseline stand and superhero costume charity fundraising runners in 2008.jpg
Charity runners wearing superhero costumes in 2008 London Marathon

A charity runner is a participant in a road race, usually of half marathon or marathon distance, who raises money or awareness for an established charitable organization. For more elite marathons, such as the World Marathon Majors, runners who are unable to obtain a qualifying time for their gender and age group can gain entry by running for an official charity affiliated with the race. [1] Other races provide charity runners with free race entry, training, team shirts, and encouragement as incentive to raise money for local charities. [2]

The Boston Marathon allows approximately 6000 runners, out of 30,000 into the annual race who have not qualified. Most of these runners have agreed to raise a minimum of $5000 and greater to gain entry into this race. [3] In 2017, the charity runners raised $34.2 million for over 200 different non-profit organizations. [4]

Relations between qualified runner and charity runners

According to Runner's World magazine, there is often animosity between qualified runners, who have met strict timing guidelines, and charity runners who do not meet the qualifying time, but are given a number for raising money for local charitable organizations and nonprofits. Some runners who meet the published qualifying time do not get into some major marathons due to the sheer volume of entries. [3]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Marathon</span> Annual race held in London, England

The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, England. It is the second largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to October for 2020, 2021, and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The largely flat course is set around the River Thames, starting in Blackheath and finishing at The Mall. Hugh Brasher is the current Race Director and Nick Bitel its Chief Executive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marathon</span> Long-distance running event of 42.195 kilometres

The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of 42.195 km, usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair divisions. More than 800 marathons are held throughout the world each year, with the vast majority of competitors being recreational athletes, as larger marathons can have tens of thousands of participants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Marathon</span> Worlds oldest regularly run marathon

The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was inspired by the success of the first marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics. The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon and ranks as one of the world's best-known road racing events. It is one of six World Marathon Majors. Its course runs from Hopkinton in southern Middlesex County to Copley Square in Boston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York City Marathon</span> American race

The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 finishers in 2019 and 98,247 applicants for the 2017 race. Along with the Boston Marathon and Chicago Marathon, it is among the pre-eminent long-distance annual running events in the United States and is one of the World Marathon Majors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago Marathon</span> Annual footrace held in Chicago, U.S.

The Chicago Marathon is a marathon held every October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the six World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is the fourth-largest race by number of finishers worldwide.

The American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC) is the fundraising and advocacy organization for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Its sole mission is to raise the funds and awareness necessary for St. Jude's continued operation. ALSAC is the largest healthcare related charity in the United States. The National Executive Office is located in Memphis, Tennessee. ALSAC also has over 30 local fundraising offices located in cities throughout the United States that hold over 30,000 fundraising events annually.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mumbai Marathon</span> Annual international marathon held in Mumbai, India

The Mumbai Marathon, is an annual international marathon held in Mumbai, India, on the third Sunday of January every year. It is the largest marathon in Asia as well as the largest mass participation sporting event on the continent. It is the richest race in India with a prize pool of US$405000.

The San Francisco Marathon is an annual USATF-certified road running event held in San Francisco, California, that includes a full marathon, two half marathons, an ultramarathon, a 10k, and a 5K. With the exceptions of 1988 and 2020, the marathon has been held annually since 1977. The marathon starts and finishes on the Embarcadero near the Ferry Building and crosses the Golden Gate Bridge. It is a qualifying race for the Boston Marathon.

The World Marathon Majors (WMM) is a championship-style competition for marathon runners that started in 2006. A points-based competition founded on six major marathon races recognised as the most high-profile on the calendar, the series comprises annual races for the cities of Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York. In addition, each edition of the series recognises and includes the results of the major global championship marathon held in that year, usually on a one-off lapped course. These races are the biennial World Athletics Championships Marathon, and the quadrennial Olympic Games Marathon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vancouver Sun Run</span> Annual 10-kilometre race in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The Vancouver Sun Run, owned by Run Vancouver Holdings ULC and sponsored by The Vancouver Sun newspaper, is a 10-kilometre road running event held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, each year on the third Sunday in April since 1985. It is one of the largest road races in North America.

The Cardiff Half Marathon is an annual half marathon race held in the Welsh capital city of Cardiff, taking place in October. The event was established in 2003, initially alongside the Cardiff Marathon, however, due to the increasing popularity of the Half Marathon, the Marathon distance was dropped after 2006. The race was originally organised by the children’s charity Barnardo’s. Now organised by Run 4 Wales, the race has grown to accommodate up to 27,500 runners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shalane Flanagan</span> American long-distance runner

Shalane Grace Flanagan is an American long-distance runner, Olympic medalist and New York City Marathon champion. She was the first American woman to win the New York City Marathon since 1977. She holds the NACAC area records in both the 10k and 15k road races.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Team World Vision</span>

Team World Vision is a fundraising program of humanitarian organization World Vision that equips individuals to raise money for World Vision projects. Currently, Team World Vision's has the most participants at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, but athletes are able to participate in any athletic event in the United States in order to raise money for World Vision. Unlike most large charity runner organizations Team World Vision does not pay for team member's race entry fees, jerseys or transportation as this helps keep overhead low.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 London Marathon</span> 31st annual marathon race in London

The 2011 London Marathon was the 31st running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 17 April. The elite men's race was won by Kenya's Emmanuel Kipchirchir Mutai in a course record time of 2:04:40 hours and the elite women's race was won by Mary Jepkosgei Keitany, also of Kenya, in 2:19:19.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Tokyo Marathon</span>

The 2013 Tokyo Marathon was the seventh edition of the annual marathon race in Tokyo, Japan and was held on Sunday, 24 February. An IAAF Gold Label Road Race, it was the first World Marathon Majors event to be held that year and represented the first occasion that the Tokyo race was part of the elite-level marathon series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 London Marathon</span> 34th annual marathon race in London

The 2014 London Marathon was the 34th running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 13 April. The men's elite race was won by Kenyan Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich and the women's race was won by Kenyan Edna Kiplagat. The men's wheelchair race was won by Switzerland's Marcel Hug and the women's wheelchair race was won by American Tatyana McFadden. Kipsang and McFadden set course records.

Elaina Tabb is an American long-distance runner from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Tabb trains in Boston, Massachusetts.

Boston Marathon qualifying standards allow runners to qualify for the Boston Marathon by running a previous marathon with a stipulated result within a stipulated calendar time frame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Richard Foundation</span> American non-profit organization

The Martin W. Richard Charitable Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable foundation established by the parents of Martin Richard, an 8-year-old boy who was killed in the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15, 2013. The foundation is dedicated to promoting education and sports in the community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon</span> Olympic athletics event

The men's marathon event at the 2020 Summer Olympics started at 07:00 on 8 August 2021 in Sapporo, Japan. 106 athletes from 46 nations competed. The previous Olympic champion, Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, successfully defended his title, with Dutch and Belgian athletes Abdi Nageeye and Bashir Abdi gaining silver and bronze, respectively. Kipchoge was the third man to repeat as Olympic marathon champion, after Abebe Bikila and Waldemar Cierpinski. The Netherlands and Belgium earned their first men's marathon medals since 1980 and 1976, respectively.

References

  1. Bingham, John (November 2008). "Faith, Hope and Charities". Runner's World . Rodale, Inc. p. 56. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  2. "Be a Charity Runner in the Pittsburgh Marathon". VolunteerMatch. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  3. 1 2 Wade, Alison (2016-04-15). "Tension Between Boston's Charity Runners and Qualifiers Disappears by Race Day". Runner's World . Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  4. "2017 Boston Marathon Charity Runners Raised $34.2 Million". Competitor.com. 2017-06-29. Archived from the original on 2017-06-30. Retrieved 2017-06-30.