She Runs by the Seashore

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I’m going to be running across the world. But before I mislead you, I’m not going to run all 24,901 miles.

I am one of thousands taking part in a running and fundraising effort called If Girls Ran the World, and we will aim to, in total, run 24,901 miles during the month of October as we raise money for different charities.

My personal goal is to run 100 miles during the month, as this was already my monthly goal. It would be great if I ran a little bit more than 100 miles so I can make up for some less-than-100 months this year on the way to reaching my 1,200-mile goal for 2016. My fundraising goal is $250.

I was interested in the effort upon finding out about it through Fit Approach, through which I’m a Sweat Pink Ambassador. I ended up entering an online giveaway and winning an entry to this fundraiser from Kim over at Kooky Runner.

I will be fundraising for Girls on the Run International. Although Girls on the Run is not currently where I live, in Salisbury, Maryland, or Wicomico County — the closest group meets in Laurel, Delaware, which is not too far away — I support the mission of the nonprofit and I think it’s awesome that it uses running in order to make girls feel good about themselves.

The mission of Girls on the Run, according to its website, is: “We inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running.”

Running is now an inseparable part of my life — it’s so entwined with the other things I do and the friends I have — and I would love to support the introduction of this positive activity into the lives of the girls who are participating in this program. One thing that’s so awesome about running is that everyone can find a place in it. You don’t have to be a star to succeed in running — maybe you just run because you like it, because it makes you feel happy or because you want to improve on your own (non-elite) times.

If you like what the organization is doing and are so inclined, please feel free to donate through my page. The options on the page are $40, $70 and $100, but I didn’t pick those, and I didn’t even donate that much, so certainly don’t take those numbers as a guide — there’s also an option to choose your own donation amount. I made a $25 donation, plus the transaction fee, in order to kick-start my fundraising and because I did not have to pay for the virtual run entry.

Here’s the link to donate.  I’ll also be logging my October miles through that page, and will plan to do a weekly check-in on this blog on Fridays.

To learn more about If Girls Ran the World, go here. 

Like She Runs by the Seashore on Facebook here.