95. Support a Cause That Matters To You By Running a 5k

Training for and running a 5k can not only be a great goal to accomplish…but also a way to champion the causes you feel passionate about. Many nonprofits and other organizations use 5ks to create awareness and raise funds to support the work they do. 

In this episode I’m giving tips and encouragement so that the next time you see a 5k for a cause that matters to you, you can go and participate with full confidence. Give it a listen and be inspired to sign up for a race this summer.

Links mentioned in the episode:

Couch to 5k Running Program

Hal Higdon's Training Programs

findarace.com

raceentry.com

Strava App

Wright Sock for running

Episode 18: Abby Whiting and Organizing Her 'Physical Health for Mental Health' Run

Follow the podcast on social media:

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Do Something More Facebook

Do Something More YouTube

Transcript

[00:00] Melissa: This episode of the podcast is combining my love of service and supporting good causes with my passion and love for running.

[00:10] So I hope that by the end of this episode, anyone listening, whether you're a runner or not, will be encouraged. Or maybe even just think about the idea of supporting a cause that matters to you or being part of an initiative that's important to you.

[00:28] By running a 5K,

[00:31] it's a great way to support many causes. Many nonprofits will use 5Ks as fundraisers, and maybe you've thought about doing that. You're not quite sure where to get started. I hope after you listen to this episode, I can give you a few answers to those questions and just leave you encouraged and inspired to go give it a try.

[00:55] Welcome to the Do Something More podcast, the show all about service where we highlight the helpers who inspire us all to do something more. If you're passionate about nonprofits or looking for simple ways to volunteer and give back to the causes that matter to you, this is a podcast for you.

[01:14] I'm your host, Melissa Draper. Stick around and I'll show you all the many ways anyone can truly make a difference in our world today.

[01:26] Hello. Today on the podcast I decided that I was going to combine two of the things that I love in my life. So of course, number one is service. That's why I do this podcast.

[01:39] That's why I do and spend time with a lot of the things that I do in my life.

[01:44] And the second is running. I am a runner. I have loved running for over 20 years, since I really first discovered it when I was a college student.

[01:55] I have ran all sorts of races, everything from one mile fun runs with my family and 5Ks to even a marathon and everything in between, 10Ks, half marathons, all the things.

[02:10] But I also just love running as an everyday workout. It's something I do all the time. I've taken little breaks at times when I was pregnant and having babies, or sometimes if I'm healing from an injury or things like that.

[02:27] But I always turn back to running. And it really has been a very constant thing in my life for the last 20 years. And I love it. And many times people ask me, why do you love running so much?

[02:41] And my answer lots of times is, I love running so much because sometimes I don't love it. And they're like, what? What does that mean? I love the juxtaposition of running.

[02:52] Running is hard. Running can sometimes be painful and push you. And I love the mental exhilaration and the physical and emotional exhilaration of working through those things. I love training and working towards the goal of a race.

[03:09] I just love everything about it. But I know not everyone feels as passionate as I do about running, which is okay. We all have our things and the things that drive us and feed us and help us feel good.

[03:23] But because of that passion and love I share for running, I wanted to do this episode today. And also because the weather is warming up, summertime is coming up. Summertime for me very much has been synonymous with training for a race or planning a race or even just doing a simple race in my community.

[03:45] I love doing those in the summertime. And so I wanted to talk about this topic of running because so many organizations and nonprofits use running and races, this love of mine, to spread awareness for their causes and to even raise money and to use them as fundraisers.

[04:08] And so I wanted to take my passion for running that I again, I know not everybody has and share it maybe with some of you out there that don't feel quite as passionate as I do.

[04:21] But you feel passionate about a cause and you want to support it. I want to encourage you to be able to do that. The next time you see a 5k for a cause that matters to you.

[04:35] The next time you see an organization that you've supported in other ways, do a 5K and you've thought, I don't know if I can do that. I want to give you encouragement that you can.

[04:45] I want to encourage you to maybe think that one way you can support the causes that matter to you is by running a 5K.

[04:56] So in this episode, I'm going to give some encouragement and some simple hows, especially for maybe those of you that aren't as familiar with running or maybe you've thought about it but you're not quite sure how to get started or even if you are a runner or have done it before.

[05:14] I'm still going to share some tips and ideas that might be helpful to you. I'm going to give you some ways that you can find a race or cause to support.

[05:23] If you're still looking and wanting to find one specifically. And I might even touch a little bit. Also for those that are passionate about nonprofits or looking for ways to fundraise for your organization, I'm going to touch a little bit on organizing a race and using that to support your cause.

[05:41] So first of all, I just want to give this encouragement and say, yes, really, anyone can train and do a 5K, especially when it's for these organizations that are supporting a Cause.

[05:56] And can I just tell you something? If you've never been at the beginning of a race, on a race day, it is one of the most exciting things. I love it.

[06:07] It is. That is one of the most addicting things about racing. It's exciting. Everyone is there, excited, ready to run their race. There are all levels of people. Every race I've done have been all levels of people.

[06:21] From novices,

[06:23] this is like their first race. To people that have been running for 20, 30 years or even run professionally. I've seen it all. And it's so fun to see this wide range of people lining up ready to run this race together.

[06:39] There's a lot of energy there and anticipation and also runners. I might be biased, but runners are some of the kindest people you will meet. There's no snobbery at these races.

[06:51] Everyone is just so excited to be there together. And it feels great to see people supporting your sport. Sport. And it feels great to see that there are other people that will pay money to do this, will wake up at 3am to run a half marathon together.

[07:07] And there's just a real sense of community there, even if you are with a bunch of strangers. So I think everyone should experience that feeling on a race day, that anticipation, that sense of community,

[07:21] that energy that's there at least once. Just give it a try at least once and see what you think of it. But maybe you're thinking, okay, all right, you've convinced me.

[07:33] I have a cause or I know an organization doing a 5k. I want to go, I want to support them. But Melissa, I have never ran and it terrifies me to think of running for 3 miles.

[07:46] That's what a 5K is. It's 3.1 miles.

[07:49] So I want to share with you just a couple of programs that you could use, training programs to get you where you need to go. One of the most popular ones out there is called the couch to 5K running program.

[08:05] And this basically has been designed to get people that have sat on the couch that have never even walked a mile to being able to run for 30 minutes or do a 5K.

[08:18] And it's a great program.

[08:21] I personally have never done this program because when I first heard about it, I was already an active runner. So it didn't really apply to me. But I have talked to many friends, family members and others who have tried this program because they just wanted to do it once.

[08:37] They wanted to be able to say that they could do a 5K and it's been successful for them. So That's a great one to look into. I will leave the link to that program.

[08:46] So couch to 5K running program and it lays out each day from the very beginning what you should do. And so you just kind of follow this schedule. It's not rigorous.

[08:57] It's something really anyone can incorporate into their day. I wanted to also share one of my favorite resources that I have used for years to train for races. And this is Hal Higdon training program.

[09:14] So you find these@halhigden.com there's an app, there's all sorts of things you can sign up for. But he also has so many free resources on this website. So you can look up training programs for almost any distance from 5Ks to half marathons, marathons, they're all there on the website.

[09:38] And then they even break down those training programs to to. If you're a novice or a beginner or intermediate or advanced, you can choose one of those programs and it will lay out for you, week by week, day by day, how to prepare yourself for whatever particular race you're doing.

[09:58] So I will leave links to that as well. I've had people ask me many times because one of my favorite distances to run is a half marathon. I've only done a marathon once and once was good enough for me.

[10:11] Not the running part, but the training part. If you're doing a marathon, it really does kind of take over your life training for it. But I love doing half marathons and I have used his programs many times.

[10:24] And the last half marathon I ran, I pr'd. Even as an older, middle aged woman, I PR'd from times that I had ran when I was in my 20s by using his program.

[10:37] So they really do work, they're amazing. And those programs, you can look them up and print them off right from his website if you don't want to pay anything. But he also has apps and other training programs.

[10:47] If you want to get a little more intense and into it, that is fine too. But Halhigdon.com is the resource that I always share with people when they ask me, how do you train for races?

[10:59] That's my first bit of advice. If you're wanting to support a 5K, find a good training or running program.

[11:07] And in addition to these ones I've listed, there's others all over the Internet that will give you, day by day, week by week, instructions for what you need to do to prepare and feel prepared for running a 5k race.

[11:21] And of course I could get into all the details and nitty Gritties of running. You need to find a good pair of running shoes. You can do that at a running store.

[11:30] Store or there are many brands people will tell you they love to run with, but you don't need something fancy if this is your first step in your training. You just need some good shoes that feel good.

[11:45] And also a good sports bra. If you're a woman, you want to make sure you have that.

[11:50] And an app that I love to use for running is called the Strava app, so I will leave a link to that as well. They do have programs again you can pay for, but they have free versions as well.

[12:03] And this app, it's kind of social media for runners. You don't need to necessarily do that part of it, but you can have friends and followers on your Strava app.

[12:13] But also you can use this to clock your distance and your routes and your runs. And it will record your pace and your time and how far you went and all those things.

[12:24] So that's the app that I use. There are lots of tracking apps out there that you can use. Back when I was in college, before we had smartphones, I would literally take my little Geo Prism and I'd drive the route that I was thinking or wanted to do and I'd track the miles on my car speedometer.

[12:47] You know how it keeps track of how many miles you've driven and that's how I drive, routed out my runs and saw how far I was running. So you really don't need all the techie gadgets that everyone says you do with running.

[13:00] You really can just take a good pair of running shoes, a good sports bra if you're a woman and get out and go for those runs. And the more you do it, you'll discover and find the things that you can do that benefit you on those runs.

[13:16] I should also mention having a good set sock can make a difference, especially if you start running longer distances.

[13:23] I personally use the right sock, so I will leave link to those. So you can see those are my favorite brand. Others have their brands that they like to use, but I never get blisters when I use those, even when I'm running really long distances in the double digit miles.

[13:40] So lots of different ways to go about running. I didn't want to get too much into the gadgets because I do not want to discourage someone who's brand new making them think that you need all the things before you start.

[13:52] You do not. You can start by walking around your block with just a good pair of tennis Shoes and then go from there as you progress and do more. So what about finding a race or a cause to support?

[14:07] So maybe you're listening to this because you've already seen a 5K that you want to support. Maybe you've already got an idea of one you want to support,

[14:16] but maybe you're just like, hey, I've always had the goal of doing this. I've never done it. So why not combine my goal of wanting to run a 5k with my desire to support a cause that matters to me?

[14:30] And it's just amazing. I think when we can couple things like that in our life, it adds so much power to what we're doing. It gives us more energy and drive and motivation to do it.

[14:41] So that's my other sense of advice. Maybe you kind of thought about doing a 5k, but you just don't feel that sense of motivation. You need just a little more to help you get going.

[14:52] So connect it with a cause. Connect that goal of wanting to run one with a cause you want to support. And that really can do it for many people that can increase our motivation when we're not just doing it for ourselves, but we're thinking of how we can serve and help and support other people.

[15:09] Some of the places that you can find races, if you're wanting to find a specific cause, are findarace.com there's all sorts of distances and races on there. Another1 is raceentry.com so I will leave links to those.

[15:26] But those are two you can check out to find races all over the country.

[15:31] And just to give you an idea. So in preparation for this episode, I just jumped on raceentry.com really quick and I just started looking through some of the races that are coming up just this weekend, maybe next weekend, all around the country.

[15:47] These are some of the causes as I looked through those races. Just to give you an idea of the wide span of initiatives and things that you can support through running a 5K.

[16:00] So there was Earth Day and conservation efforts,

[16:04] Autism awareness,

[16:06] breast cancer awareness,

[16:08] child abuse prevention,

[16:11] Parkinson's and movement disorders,

[16:14] supporting cancer heroes,

[16:16] sexual assault awareness and prevention.

[16:20] One that was benefiting the local United Way and one that even was supporting an organization that did legal aid services for those that needed them in their community.

[16:31] So those were just a few that are coming up this weekend or next all around the country. So many causes that you can support. And many of these will say when you go register for the race, either the nonprofit themself is putting it on and they'll say the proceeds from this will go to support this nonprofit or sometimes others that are organizing the race will let you know what percentage of your race fee is going to that.

[16:58] So with every 5k that you run, there's usually a race fee that you have to pay. And many times this does cover just the logistics of the race, of getting your bib, of having water and things there at the beginning and during and end of the race, of being able to advertise the race.

[17:21] Sometimes they need to get the support of their local police department to help navigate traffic and roads at points of the race.

[17:29] Many times they have first responders there as well. They have to buy insurance to cover the race. So all sorts of things that your fee is going to. And then many of these organizations many times will find sponsors that will help them to cover some of these costs so that then the vast majority of your fee you're paying can go to support this cause.

[17:53] So really there are so many different organizations that you can support by running a 5K and you are supporting them just by showing up with other people that care about this cause.

[18:06] There's a great sense of community that can be found in that. But also it really is through money and monetary donations, because your race fee is going towards that. And I just wanted to touch and say a little bit about organizing a race to support your cause.

[18:24] Or maybe you're a nonprofit and you've thought about organizing a race as a fundraiser. I want to be clear and say I have never done that myself, but I have volunteered to help at a few races and I have helped others be able to put those on.

[18:43] And it is something that you can do that you might want to look into. I do want to mention here that back near the beginning of my podcast on episode 18,

[18:54] I did an episode with a teenager named Abby Whiting. And as a junior in high school, she organized her own run. She organized a 5k to support mental health, and she was able to raise over $1,000 and donate that to the national alliance on Mental Illness as a junior in high school.

[19:19] It's a really impressive episode. I encourage you to go listen to it if you're wanting to get hyped up about using 5Ks to promote causes. Again, that's episode 18. I'll leave a link to that in the show notes.

[19:32] But I loved her example of taking something she loved running and using that to support a cause that mattered to her and to raise money and awareness for it. So that's a great episode to look into and you can also find all sorts of articles on the Internet about how to organize a 5k fundraiser.

[19:56] I would suggest that maybe you include a runner in those plans, someone that has done it before so that they can share with you the logistics and some of the things that you might not have been aware of as you plan that.

[20:11] And there are some hidden costs. So many times to organize a successful fundraising 5k, you will want to find sponsors to help you with that as well. But it can be a great way to raise awareness for your cause and to raise money as well for these causes and things that matter.

[20:35] There's a little bit of my advice, a little bit of my encouragement to be part of a cause or initiative that matters to you by running a 5K. Maybe that's something you can plan to do this summer.

[20:50] And again, I'm not a doctor, I am not a health or fitness expert. So again, if you haven't ever done one of these and you're thinking about doing it, of course, talk to your doctor, talk to someone that can give you advice or that knows your situation more.

[21:08] But I just think running a 5k, having that goal can be great and it's okay. You might not love running. You might decide when you're done. I'm glad I did that.

[21:19] I don't love this. This isn't something I would do all the time, and that's okay too. But it can be a great thing to be a part of. I also want to say, if it's brand new for you, a lot of these 5Ks that support causes, there are plenty of people that are walking the race.

[21:36] Sometimes they do have a time limit for how long they can keep the race open. But if you're walking a good brisk walk, you will make that time limit. So do not let that worry you.

[21:48] You can go and walk a 5k as well. And there are plenty of people that do that. I have seen people do that at every race I have ran. Almost especially 5ks and even 10ks.

[22:01] I've seen plenty of people that walk the race. I've seen plenty of people that bring a group of friends with them and walk it together. The running community is a very accepting community.

[22:12] Yes, there are people at these races that are into it and this is their life and what they do. But we also just. I know for myself, I also love seeing people that are supporting it.

[22:23] It's just great to be there together. So this is my encouragement. Don't let that fear stop you. If you've seen that 5k, you want to support. Go, give it a try.

[22:33] Go find yourself a good running or training program and give it a go and just think of all the good things you're combining. You're combining prioritizing your physical health. You're thinking about a cause that matters to you and how you can support it.

[22:51] For me, running has helped me so much with my mental health, my emotional health, so you're making that a priority as well. And you can get your family to join you, maybe your kids and you can all do it together.

[23:04] So then it can help build family relationships. So there are so many good things that you can do by choosing to rent a 5K to support a cause. There's so many ways this can benefit your life in good ways.

[23:18] So that's my encouragement. Give it a try. This summer as I see different races pop up, I'll share them on my social media feed so you can follow me there too to see ideas and we can all encourage each other.

[23:32] And if I do actually convert any of you to the love of running, send me a message and let me know. I would love to see someone else feel as passionate about running as I do.

[23:46] But again, if you don't, that's okay too. 5Ks doing them can still be a great experience for everyone involved. Lots of links that I mentioned to go check out in the show notes that will help you explore this more.

[24:01] And of course I want to give the friendly reminder that if you enjoyed this episode of the podcast, please share it with a friend or a neighbor or a family member or a fellow person you want to join you on a 5k race, share it with them and let it be an encouraging note for both of you to go and give that a try.

[24:23] I also of course will always take five star reviews and ratings on Apple podcasts especially. That means a lot to me. Or follow the podcasts on social media.

[24:36] And as always this week, I hope that you can find a way to do something more to help lift, inspire or make a difference.