Guest Blog Written by #runChi Club Team Member: Nina Liewehr

...for the Chicago Marathon!

Did you miss out on signing up for the 2012 Chicago Marathon? I've got great news, you can join me and thousands of other runners raising money for one of the 100+ charities in the charity program! Check out the Run for Charity page and start browsing! link:
I signed up about 3 weeks ago through PAWS Chicago and I am thrilled to be raising money dollars for their efforts in helping unwanted and homeless cats and dogs find foster and forever homes.

Find out more about running for Team PAWS. And if you so wish, you can view my online donation page...and donate $5 while you are there!
I was talking to my friend about running for charity and she mentioned that she feels that she'd never raise the required amount. This is a completely legit fear...after all, you have to pay the rest to fulfill the requirement amount. She said she wouldn't know who to ask for money, I told her she's got her family, her friends, her co-workers, and all those people have friends and family of their own! We also have the powers of social media these days to really spread the word out there.
There are numerous benefits by running for a charity, and each charity has their own perks for runners. Most include marathon training programs and social events for their fundraisers. It is important for you to identify what perks (if any) you wish to receive from a charity. The CARA training was definitely something I wanted to have. Of course, the best benefit about running for a charity is how awesome you will feel by raising money for your chosen charity.

Now that I've convinced you to run for a charity, here is what I had in mind when choosing my charity...

1. A reasonable donation requirement. As a first time charity runner I was skeptical about how much money I could actually raise, so the charities that make you raise a minimum of thousands of dollars were out. $600 seemed like a reasonable amount for me.

2. The perks offered. I won't lie, if I'm raising money and putting myself through marathon training, I'm going to want some good perks. CARA training was the one that I really wanted and I got that from PAWS. I'm also going to get a cheering section complete with happy dogs, dog friendly fun runs (since I don't have a dog, I can take a PAWS dog out for some fun), and my favorite...private tent, private gear check, etc on October 7th. Perks offered vary by charity.

3. A charity with appeal. I had some various types of charities in my top choices and I ultimately picked PAWS over the others because it's hard to say no to friendly, furry cats & dogs.