Running for Charity at ING Miami Marathon
Dori & Sue at ING Miami Marathon Health Expo
This past weekend I participated in my second half marathon at the ING Miami Marathon. I went down to Miami with my friends Sue and Dori. ING Miami was Sue’s first half marathon, and Dori’s second. Even though Miami is only about an hour to hour and a half drive, depending on traffic, we decided to drive down the night before and get a hotel room. We didn’t want to have to get up at 2 AM, in order to drive down to Miami, and find a place to park.
Team Challenge
We ended up staying at the Miami Hyatt Regency hotel, which was less than a mile from the start of the marathon. The Hyatt was also the official hotel of Team Challenge. The funds raised by Team Challenge participants benefit the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America. Abigail Beal wrote a detailed post on Team Challenge, back on January 8, 2008: Team Challenge; Support Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America.
My friends and I did ING Miami on our own, and didn’t sign up to do it through any of the local charities that participate in the event. My duties with Team in Training have my fundraising dollars already spread out pretty thin. But I really missed being part of a team, and having squads of volunteers from the charity cheer me on throughout the marathon.
Since I was staying at the official Team Challenge hotel, I picked up a bunch of literature from the charity. Being a freelance writer, I’m always collecting brochures and flyers from other charity athletic events. Like Team in Training events, Team Challenge hosted a pasta party the night before the marathon, and a victory party the night after the race.
Lynn in Front of ING Miami Marathon Map
Future Team Challenge Events
My husband was diagnosed with colitis a few years ago, so I am thinking about joining Team Challenge in the future. Team Challenge is currently recruiting for the Kona Half Marathon, which takes place on June 28 in Hawaii, and the Napa-to-Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon which takes place on July 19 in California.
Other Charities at ING Miami
The South Florida Team in Training chapter had a lot of runners participating in the marathon. My local chapter, Palm Beach TNT, doesn’t participate in the ING Miami. In lieu of participating in the ING Miami Marathon, the Palm Beach team recently participated in the Disney Marathon, which took place on January 10 & 11.
Other charities that had teams participating in the ING Miami Marathon included Team Lifeline, Run for Autism, World Vision and Achilles Track Club.
Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Run Diva
Bike Diva VS Run Diva
I have been signing all my Charity Mile posts as the Bike Diva. But I have recently started my Run Diva blog on TypePad. So if I’m posting about a bike related event, I’ll sign off as the Bike Diva, but if I’m posting about a running event, I’ll sign off as the Run Diva.
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