Here’s another extreme walk for charity from the news…

Englishman Mark Beecham will soon be embarking on a long walk for charity. He’s a 20 year veteran of the postal service and 5 year veteran of the TA (Territorial Army) . He’ll be will be going on a well known Coast to Coast trek which spans 192-miles. He’s raising money for Help For Heroes, a charity which supports British soldiers wounded in battle.

He was quoted in the local paper saying, “The idea’s been in my head for about 10 years and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”

Good luck, Mark. Sounds like a lot of fun!

Many charity athletic events encourage participants to raise money on their own by pledges or some other means.  Some events, especially long distance or those including travel actually require a certain amount of funds raised for the charity.  Then there are those that are organizing their own events to benefit a cause.

Whether you’re participating in an event already set up or would you like organize your own charity walk, run or other athletic event, fundraising is a big part of it.

Charity Mile & Step by Step Fundraising are sponsoring a survey to find out your most pressing questions about fundraising. Ten randomly drawn entries will win a free ebook and one lucky entry will win a $100 donation to their charity of choice.  Entries must be completed by this Friday, March 28th to be eligible.

Click here to take this short survey now

Need another reason to join a marathon training or other endurance program?

How about getting featured in your local paper,gaining the admiration of your friends and becoming your hometown’s favorite citizen?

Jennifer Khaki was featured in her hometown paper after signing up for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer Los Angeles.

Khaki will participate in the noncompetitive event by completing a marathon and a half (39.3 miles) over the weekend of September 13th & 14th. This is her first time participating in the Avon Walk.

from the Ventura County Star

Now don’t expect to get in the paper just for doing a little 5K. You’d have to win a medal or make record time for those short races to even get a mention. Nope, you have to do something that stands out a bit more. There’s certainly not many people, like Jennifer, who are committed enough to do nearly 40 miles for a cause. If they do, they deserve a pat on the back and the keys to the city for at least one day!

Yesterday I highlighted a few of the stories about extreme run/walk events. If you really want to run, walk, or hike long distances for a charity that is great. I could probably do a long distance hike if it were not a race.

But you don’t have to do something that extreme to help a good cause. In fact all the Epilepsy Foundation asks you to do is take a stroll. It’s a pledge based event so you get your friends and family to support you, then just do two miles. That’s it, just two miles. Read more… »

Over the past year we’ve featured several extreme charity athletic events. I’m constantly amazed by the dedication of someone willing to walk or run so many miles. I’ve completed a 26.2 mile marathon and anything beyond that seems like an extreme event to me. I would have to be very motivated, and maybe a bit crazy, to commit to something longer than that.

You don’t just wake up one morning and say, “hey I think I’ll walk out of the house today and run 100 miles.” Nope. It takes a lot of training months in advance. You have to plan your workouts, stay on the plan and also do fundraising for your cause.

Plus many of these volunteers are doing this on their own, not part of an organized program. So they also have to plan for contingencies, like having a support team along the route, where to sleep if it’s multiple nights like most of these are, getting plenty to eat, and being safe along the way.

You really learn a lot about goal setting and goal achieving when doing any long distance event. But even more so for these kind of extreme events.

Here are a few of these amazing volunteer fundraisers / athletes:
Friends Complete 52-mile Walk Along the Thames River (England)
Australian Student Completes Second Long-Distance Walk for Charity this time walking 4,000 Kilometers
Woman Walks Nearly 400 Miles Across Ireland to benefit the Smile Train, a charity that provides surgery for children who suffer from cleft lip and palate.
Man Endures 896 Mile Run Through the Texas Heat to raise awareness of childhood obesity.

A few weeks back Amy Hunold-VanGundy of the Runner’s Lounge blog wrote Everyone Should Run A Half Marathon and co-blogger Tom Green posted a follow-up with some other great points.

Many people who join charity marathon programs really do want to support the cause but are somewhat nervous about doing a long distance event. Some of them are beginners, others see themselves as “slow runners” as Amy mentioned and others may have health concerns that make long distances iffy. If so the half-marathon, 13.1 miles, could be the perfect answer. Read more… »

I found another great long distance walk today, organized by someone on their own, to help a friend. Gav Thompson, of Newbury, England was inspired to plan a charity walk when his friend’s child died of a rare genetic disease. The idea gained traction and eventually 16 others joined him for a 52 mile walk. 17 others joined in for the final stretch on the last day of the event. The story was reported in the local paper, the Newbury Today and on the BBC.

So far the combined funds raised from all of the team members totals over £77,000 which benefits the The Jennifer Trust for Spinal Muscular Atrophy. You can read some of Thompson’s report on the walk on his Just Giving “Fat Man Walking” Page.