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June 9, 2009, 06:43 PM ET
Are Charities Abusing Marathons for Fund-Raising Purposes?
Some 45,000 people will take part in the Chicago Marathon this October, among them thousands of runners signed up with the more than 100 charities using the 26-mile foot race to raise money.
Last year’s Chicago Marathon brought in more than $9-million for nonprofit causes, and charity teams are an increasing part of marathons across the country.
While good news for charity coffers, do this influx of philanthropic runners dilute the sport and put ill-prepared participants at risk of injury?
The Chicago Tribune fueled this debate with an article describing how the “once hard-core competitions” have come, in some instances, to “resemble parades.” It also quoted a running coach who says marathons have become “romanticized” and that charity groups don’t always have their runner’s best interests in mind.
In contrast, a marathon coach at the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society stressed how its runners receive 16-weeks of structured training and arrive at the starting line “injury-free, healthy, and prepared.” The online article’s “comments” section continued a lively debate on the topic.
On the healthy-living blog, That’s Fit, the writer Bev Sklar waded into the fray and came away feeling that “marathon snobs should unlace their running shoes in shame.”
She wrote: “If the charity training program is responsible, you line up right and the race has no time limit, who cares if you run, jog, walk/jog or walk/crawl to the finish by dusk?”
Has your group placed teams in a recent marathon? What are your thoughts on the practice, as a fund raiser, a marathoner, or both?
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