Sam Wolf II was killed while cycling on October 1, 2006. Wolf was cycling in the Great Pumpkin Metric Ride when a Jeep collided with his bicycle in Posey County, Indiana. The accident happened under circumstances that one would not think a fatal bicycle accident would happen. Wolf was wearing a bright yellow jersey, one that many cyclists wear to get the attention of motorists. The weather was sunny. The accident happened at a wide-open intersection with no barriers to vision and it was during a well-organized, large bicycle ride.

His friend Jim Bush and fellow cyclists are raising funds and asking local officials to install “Share the Road” signs on roadways that bicycles and cars share often. Bush has purchased 50 signs and 26 will be set up in Vanderburgh County within the next several weeks. Each sign has cost $50 and permission from local officials has been easy to obtain.

“When we lost our friend, we wanted to try and make a positive out of a negative, out of our loss,” Bush said. “Share the road signs are one way we thought we could do that.”

900 cyclists are anticipated for this year’s Great Pumpkin Metric Ride. The goals is to have the signs up in time for the ride.

Source: Courier Press

Maren Coffman is participating in the 39-mile, two-day Avon Walk held on Charlotte, NC on October 20th - 21st. The Fort Hill, SC resident must raise a minimum of $1,800 to be a walker in the event. Like many fundraisers for walk-a-thons or other events, Coffman is putting her own special personal touch on her fundraising. She has created several creative fundraising strategies to support her efforts. Her fundraising is also helping to raise more awarness for breast cancer.

Coffman has created a mini-walk to benefit the Avon Foundation on Saturday, October 6th. The walk is 4 miles and begins at the Baxter Village Starbucks. The registration fee of $20 will benefit the Avon Foundation. By holding a walk, she is helping to raise more awareness for breast cancer, especially for walkers who might not be able to complete the 39-mile walk held by Avon in late October.

She is also selling raffle tickets for prizes that will be given right after the mini-walk on October 6th. Raffle tickets are being sold for $5 each. Local businesses have donated a number of prizes which include four cakes donated by The Perfect Pastry, handmade chocolates from Epiphany Chocolatiers, a $150 gift certificate from P.Elite Catering and a two-night stay at Holiday Inn Charlotte City Center.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Many women are wearing pink ribbons in support of this very important month.

Source:  Charlotte.com

The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon is in its 30th year. The marathon will take place on Sunday, October 7th. 45,000 participants are anticipated to run in this year’s marathon. They have created a newly-designed site to meet the needs of their runners.

The website was originally designed to serve registration of 45,00 entries en mass. It was also designed to serve as a communications tool to give specifics about the event.

The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon decided to take the opportunity to raise the bar of the industry and develop a site that would not only further engage its audience, but reach out to non-runners alike with an opportunity to dial into the never-ending energy the Marathon generates, said Shawn Platt, LaSalle Bank’s Senior Vice President and Director of Brand Management and Sports Marketing

With the event approximately five weeks away, they are anticipating high-traffic at their site. The website has many new highlights:

There is imagery from the past 30 years of the marathon’s history. There is also information about training, preparation and actual race day.

Inspiration Bank offers visitors the opportunity to share their motivation, stories and tips through online diaries, runner essays, photo galleries, polls and top ten lists. In alliance with the emotional feel of the new design, the Inspiration Bank is another manner in which all involved runners, spectators and supporters have the ability to connect with the global Marathon community. Includes a variety of features such as a countdown clock, runner tracking, podcasts, online polling and video galleries.

The LaSalle Chicago Marathon has raised more than $27.5 million for numerous charities, including $9.3 in accordance with the 2006 alone.

Source: Runner’s Web and Triathlete’s Web

This year the organizers of the Denver Marathon have created an opportunity for runners to run with a favorite celebrity while helping those in need. The Denver Marathon Celebrity Inspiration Run will take place on a two-mile relay on the marathon course. The marathon occurs on Sunday, October 14th and the course runs through Denver, Colorado.

“With the Denver Marathon Celebrity Inspiration Run, the goal is to encourage everyday people to find the inspiration to run with someone they admire while benefiting a worthy charity,” race director Anton Villatoro said in a prepared statement.

Source: cbs4denver.com

The auction will be held online at the Denver Marathon website. It begins on September 28th and runs through October 7th. Funds raised will benefit the charity chosen by the celebrity. The runner will be invited to a motivational dinner the evening before the Denver Marathon.

Celebrities participating include: former Bronco Bill Romanowsk, CBS4 sportscaster Vic Lombardi, Scott Elrod of the TV drama “Men in Trees,” and Miss Colorado 2007 Maggie Ireland.

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.

A Dinner and a Murder Mystery Party can be a fun way to raise funds for your favorite cause. The games by DinnerAndAMurder.com take about three hours to play, including dinner. Guests assume the roles of characters in the plot, and at the end the killer - or killers - is revealed. Read more… »

When Matt Will graduated from college earlier this year, he decided to take on an ambitious project with a purpose: to pedal more than 4,000 miles and raise money for autism research.

He rode from his parent’s home in Fountain Hills, California to the Jersey Shore, New Jersey. About 4,176.9 miles if you want to be exact about it. Will raised more than $10,000 for Autism Research & Resource Center, a Pheonix, Arizona charity. The majority of his pledges were per mile.

Motivation and enthusiasm carried Will for his journey. He truly lacked experience at long-distance bike riding. He admits that the majority of his bike riding experience previously consisted of taking his bike on short rides and “feasting on Burger King”.

Will set out for the Jersey Shore on April 29th. There were some challenges along the way, a blown tire and learning that energy drinks really do refuel you.

“I know I can take from this the confidence that I can do anything,” Will said. “As long as I’m willing to work hard, everything’s going to work out.”

Source: East Valley Tribune.com