Two Great Causes, One Easy Race, Zero Excuses Not To Participate!

The math of this might not make sense, but I'm going to tell you how you can participate in an ultramarathon (a running race longer than 26.2 miles) by walking just three miles within six hours. In doing so, you'll earn a great medal and t-shirt, support two great charities (one that supports military families and another that helps small autism-related charities) and it costs about the same as dinner for two at Chili's. And the best part is you don't have to be a runner—this is something for everybody!

Real quick, I'm just another one of your neighbors here in the Saddleback Valley — I've lived in Foothill Ranch and Lake Forest for 20 of the past 25 years. I moonlight as a charity marathon runner and in 2010, I ran 61 full marathons and a couple of ultramarathons all over the country to raise money for Train 4 Autism, which helps people raise money for the autism-related charity of their choice.

Along the way, I met somebody named Brandon Wood in Alaska. He's raising money for a charity called TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors), which helps families of military members killed in the line of duty. He's doing this in memory of his father-in-law Richard Leary, who died in a plane crash in 1995.

Rather than just do a quick $20 donation, I decided I'd just, you know, put on a race for him as a fundraiser. That's the easy thing to do, right? So, Oct. 30 at Mason Regional Park in Irvine, I'm putting on the Richard Leary 6-Hour Challenge. It's a six-hour timed race and the winners will be the male and female who run the most laps around the 1.09-mile loop I've set up in the park.

You Don't Have To Run For Six Hours, Though!

Realistically, almost none of the participants will run for anywhere near that long. It will start at 7:30 a.m., so come any time before 1:30 p.m. and you can be a part of the event. Complete three laps around the loop and you'll get a custom medal and a T-shirt. The entry fee is only $30, guaranteeing that you will receive the best race medal you'll ever get for that inexpensive of a race. I say this from experience — I've run 94 marathons and probably another 30 races of varying distances and I've never gotten a medal like this one for anywhere near $30!

Run it, walk it, do whatever you'd like. It's basically an open-ended 5K that you can start at any time you want (REGISTER HERE!).

If you don’t live nearby, we’re doing a satellite option. So you don’t have to be here and it’s really affordable!

10 Reasons to Participate—Please Read to the Bottom!

1. TAPS. You’re not just supporting our troops—you’re supporting the families of our troops who pay the ultimate price.

2. Train 4 Autism. This was actually at Brandon’s insistence, but it’s a great cause. We help people raise money for the autism-related charity of their choice, often small, local charities. We help the little guys, and the money raised here will help even more money get raised!

3. An awesome medal. [Check it out to the right of this post.] And I’m not just saying that. It's a custom diecast medal we had made—a "real" medal! It has a red, white and blue ribbon.

4. A T-shirt. You get one just by participating in three quick loops.

5. The cost is only $30. You know where you can run a race, support two great charities, get a medal like this and a T-shirt too? Yeah, that’s right…nowhere! This is the best medal you’ll ever get at a $30 race, period!

6. You only have to run THREE MILES! Yes, it’s a six-hour race. But to earn the medal, you only need to complete three laps around the course. Who can’t cover three miles in six hours?

7. You can do the run anywhere. We have a satellite option so if you want to support the cause but you’re nowhere near Irvine, CA, you can and we’ll send you the medal and the T-shirt. There’s an extra $5 on the fee to cover shipping.

8. Supporting running as a way make the world a better place. I’m always trying to think of ways to help, and a lot of you have been very supportive over the past couple of years. This is my first attempt at this kind of race and I’m really hoping it’s a model that works. If it is, I’ll put on a couple of these a year to help out various causes. But I need your support to make sure this isn’t a one-and-done!

9. Gift certificates. The men’s and women’s overall winners will win gift certificates from A Snail’s Pace running shop.

10. Think about what the beneficiaries go through. Covering three miles—heck, even running for six hours—is a lot easier than what the people who will benefit from this event have to deal with daily.

So there, 10 reasons to participate. Can you give me one reason not to participate? I know the biggest obstacle in this economy is money, which is why I’m trying to make this an affordable value. If you can’t afford it, that’s cool, but can you like the race on Facebook and share this blog on your wall or on Twitter?

Thanks for getting all the way down here to the bottom. I hope to see you out there on the 30th!

CLICK HERE to register now for the race or the satellite run!

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Check out my charity website at operationjack.org and follow me on Twitter at @operationjack