Day 1969 - Exercising for Charity

I am loving all of this energy people are giving to charity ....

Image Credit - Tahlia Jane

Donate Life Walk

This week Tahlia and her friends got up at dawn and headed to Canberra's Lake Burley Griffin with hundreds of other Canberrans for a 5km walk to raise awareness for Organ Donation.  It's called the Gift of Life's DonateLife walk and is touted as Canberra's largest community activity in support of the DonateLife campaign.

Gift of Life’s DonateLife Walk 2015 - Canberra

Over the past two weeks I have watched as fellow bloggers and in-real-life friends have donated their time and energy to raising money for causes through exercise.

Cupid's Undie Run

Trish from "My Little Drummer Boys" is not only a cancer survivor herself but is always on the front line when it comes to participating in energetic events to raise much needed funds and awareness for the disease. She and her husband recently got their undies on for the Cupid's Undie Run to raise money for the Children's Tumor Foundation of Australia.

Image Credit - Trish from My Little Drummer Boys 

Trish suggests that the Undie Run was more "fun" than "run" compared to others she's done in recent years. She's also done the City to Surf twice (one for World Vision and then again for the National Breast Cancer Foundation), plus she's done a half marathon for Breast Cancer Network Australia. These are huge feats for any mere mortal, but particularly so given Trish is not only a breast cancer survivor, but is also battling sarcoma at the moment.

Walk in Her Shoes

Another one of my bloggy pals, Em from "Have a Laugh on Me", is getting ready for the Walk in Her Shoes challenge in March where she needs to walk 50km in 7 days.  You can read about it here.

Image Source - Have a Laugh on Me

Em isn't much into exercise so she's hoping this will kick start her exercise regime and help get rid of her muffin top to raise $1000 to help women and girls who live in poverty. How's that for a win/win! If you'd like to contribute to Em's charity, click here.

The Color Run

My niece Jess and her friend took part in the Color Run last weekend in the ACT.  That's the one where you wear white and run 5km through four colour zones which spray you with pink, orange, blue and yellow (completely washable) paint. They call the Color Run the "happiest 5k on the planet". Happy for the participants ... not-so-happy for mum who has to wash the clothes afterwards.

Jess (on the right) with her friend after the Color Run

The interesting thing about the Color Run is that it's not actually a charity in itself, nor is it a non-profit organisation. It's a global events management company.

However, they DO support the work of the Global Citizen and promote that cause. Plus they work with local organisations within the cities the events take place in.   So charities can definitely jump on board the Color Run bandwagon. As can individuals.  You can sign up to a "Go Fundraise" page and let your friends know who you're raising money for.  Another win/win.

Wild Women on Top Sydney Coastrek

My friend Kate has decided to sign up for the Wild Women on Top Sydney Coastrek where she'll walk 55km to end avoidable blindness by raising money for The Fred Hollows Foundation.

Kate and I at a recent celebration

 This group has already raised $1.5 million towards their $3 million goal which is incredible and the walk still hasn't happened yet.  For only $25 we can restore the sight of one person.  That's all it takes! You can check out the Wild Women on Top Coastrek Facebook page here and you can donate via Kate here.



All of these amazing people who are physically exerting themselves to raise money and awareness for others in our world is inspiring.

I also think that the event organisers are onto a good thing by challenging us to not just sit back and hand out cash, but actually get out there and push ourselves for the sake of our fellow human beings.

Exercise and charity - that's got to be a win/win!

I can feel the energy ... can you?