A Cause Greater than Oneself



The Semper Fi Fund, recently featured in the North County (San Diego) Times.


















This year, I am running the Marine Corps Marathon to benefit the Semper Fi Fund, an organization that provides assistance to injured U.S. Marines returning from war.

This is my first year running for a cause. But it won’t be my last. In fact, now I can’t imagine running a race any other way. Running for charity has added a whole new dimension to my training – it has forced me to run for a cause greater than myself. 

As runners, we are so fortunate that organized races today have adopted more charity partners than ever.  Whether you feel passionately about our troops as I do, or about Alzheimer’s, Breast Cancer, children’s cancer, or (fill in the blank with the cause of your choice), it is easier than ever to raise funds and awareness for a cause which you care deeply about.

In this charitable age, it turns out that the benefits are mutual for runners, charities and even the participating races themselves. The New York Times running blog reports that running for a cause has provided a huge boom to organized races: http://marathon.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/21/running-for-charity-fuels-a-boom-in-marathoning/. Now that’s what I call a win-win-win.

Whatever your cause, I encourage you to seek out a charity partner on your next race. Most races have a section on their website called “Charity partners.” Simply click through the race's official website and find a cause that’s right for you. In the meantime, here are the Charity partners for what I consider “the top three” races in the U.S.:

The Marine Corps Marathon: http://www.marinemarathon.com/Register/MCM_Charity_Partners.htm

The Boston Marathon: http://www.baa.org/utilities/charities.aspx 

The ING New York City Marathon: http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/galleries/charities/index.shtm. 

As for my Marathon effort, I invite you to read more about the Semper Fi Fund and the incredible stories of young spouses they have supported, the injured U.S. Marines and NAVY personnel they have assisted, and the homes they have retrofitted for heroes returning home in much different conditions than they left. If you’d like to support my team’s effort for the Marine Corps Marathon to benefit the Semper Fi Fund, you can contribute here: http://www.active.com/donate/semperfifundmcm2011/jenniferk

Here’s to running for – and living for – a cause greater than ourselves!