Ten days ago I ran my first race for a charity. Many of the races I have run donate money to local charities but this race I ran as part of a team of runners for ZERO Prostate Cancer. I just want to tell you all my experiences in raising money – something I am still doing and you can donate here – for this group.

First off, let me tell you that the people in the office of the charity in Alexandria, Virginia are amazing. They not only kept me up to date on what was going on with my donations, as there is a minimum to raise, but also with information they received about the race.

The Marine Corps Marathon was the largest group of runners ZERO Prostate Cancer has had at a race yet. We all received a red “Team ZERO” singlet to wear to race in and a HeadSweats hat. We also received a 1/4 zip jacket to keep us warm. Of course, all of these items are branded and make for recognition for the charity as they are worn.

The day before the race the charity treated almost 50 of us runners to a luncheon where we could get to know the others on the team and we could also do the infamous, pre-race carb loading. On top of this, it allowed those who work for the charity to talk with us individually – as many as they could anyway – about why we chose this particular charity for this race.

While my life has been very hectic, with my mother being seriously ill and my traveling cross-country frequently, I was happy to reach $375 of my $550 fundraising. I really wanted to raise more than that but just did not find the time. I will say I did cross the finish line of the race and would love to run it again.

As we promote screening for prostate cancer in November, please consider donating to ZERO Prostate Cancer by visiting my page here.