Arms of Love Pregnancy Resource Center is gearing up for its 10th annual Fun Walk. This year they are also adding a 5K race. Arms of Love is a 501c3, not for profit located in Godfrey Illinois that specializes in helping women in crisis pregnancy situations.

The event will take place Sunday, Oct. 21 @ 2:00 pm at Haskell Park on Henry Street in Alton, IL. The cost is $15 to Walk and $25 for 5K Run and pledge fundraising is encouraged. Entertainment will include the NTF Xtreme Band, Balloons, Face Painting and Food. A free T-shirt will be given to all who enter and complete the Walk.

For more information contact Angela Valdes, Director of Development, Arms of Love PRC at 618-466-1690.

On Saturday, September 8th the 4th Annual Marine Mud Run will be held at the Armed Forces Reserve Center in South Bend, Indiana. This is not the typical 5K race, it includes course obstacles such as trenches and crawling. The race is also done in the mud which makes it quite challenging.

Even if you are a hardcore runner, you are going to get tired … You’ll be going up and down hills plus the resistance of running and all the weight you have now acquired. You’re going to be worn out,” said LCpl. Tim Harrigan.

The track is dry right now, but it the water will be up to people’s knees on Saturday morning to create the mud. This event benefits Toys for Tots.

Source: WNDU.com

Zain Rahman of Mississauga, (Ontario)Canada has begun a month-long, 3,100 kilometre cycle ride to raise funds for the Canadian Cancer Society, the Heart & Stroke Foundation and the President’s Choice Children’s Charity. He began his ride on Wednesday, August 1st.

Rahman’s goal is to ride 150 kilometres every day. His original goal was to ride coast-to-coast but he did not have enough vacation time. He has created a route that he can complete in a month. He plans to stay at campgrounds, hotels or with old friends along the route. He has a GPS system and also a cell phone. People can track his journey at his website through his GPS.

Source: Mississauga.com

Sara’s Beach Walk will be held September 20th through September 22nd on the Grand Strand beaches of Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach and Garden City in South Carolina. The three-day, 45 mile beach walk will raise money for SOS Health Care, Inc., SOS Children’s Village and Sara Goodwin Memorial Foundation. The 45 mile beach walk also includes a 5 mile walk and a one mile walk. Funds will also be used to train therapy dogs for austic children.

The Sara Goodwin Foundation honors Steven Goodwin’s late wife. Goodwin is the Chief Executive Officer of Hard Rock Park. The charity was announced on Tuesday, July 24th 2007.

“Sara and I loved walking along the beach. As for most of you, it was the one place where we could go to escape the hustle of our daily lives. It was a place where we found peace together. I can think of no better way to honor Sara’s memory than by walking the length of the Grand Strand,” Steven Goodman (quoted from Sara’s Beach Walk website)

Source: Sara’s Beach Walk

George Hood now has the world exercise-bike endurance record and is waiting for The Guinness Book of World Records to officially give him this title. The new record for exercise-bike endurance by Hood is 109 hours.

This is actually not the Burr Ridge, Illinois resident’s first attempt at a Guinness World record: in 1986 Hood achieved the world jump-roping endurance record. But someone else beat his record during that year, so Hood’s record did not stand. The Guinness Book of World Records is released yearly and records are updated annually.

Hood has made the attempt to beat the world record to assist with a fund-raiser for Willowbrook/Burr Ridge Kiwanis Club to benefit the Twin Lakes Camp. Hood has raised $15,000 for the organization.

Source: Beacon News Online.com

Kids in the Yakima, WA area have been encouraged to enroll in a fitness challenge during the month of July. Local fitness enthusiasts have created a fund-raiser to benefit children’s health programs.

Children pledge to be active for a minimum of 30 minutes a day for three days each week. The children obtained donations from sponsors. Monies raised will benefit the Children’s Miracle Network, a group of children’s hospitals.

The children that have raised certain dollar amounts win sports-related prizes, such as soccer or basketballs, or even a bicycle. The fund-raiser organizers anticipate that approximately 400 children will sign up and they hope to raise $3,000 to $5,000.

The event has local sponsors, including McDonald’s. The event concludes August, 4th with prizes and rewards distributed.

The First Baptist Church and the Bay Leaf Baptist Church both in Raleigh, N.C. have been visiting Kenya to do missionary work for five years. The First Baptist Church decided they wanted to build an orphanage there, but was not certain how to raise the funds. Church member, Jessica Wyndham suggested the idea for a walk, Miles for Missions. The walk would also honor a long-time volunteer Karen Smith who had gone to Kenya twice and was a dedicated member of the Women’s Missionary Union. Smith passed away in January.

The Miles for Missions walk was a 5K run and walk event including a one mile “fun walk”. The event was held on Saturday, May 19th. The church raised $15,000 with their event and more than 200 enthusiastic walkers and runners participated in the event. $5,000 had been donated by the Bay Leaf Baptist Church which has partnered with the church for missionary work.

The walk went well and everyone agreed that this would be an annual fund-raising event for the orphanage.