Back in late November I decided to start a Dashing Through December challenge on Dailymile as a way to provide a bit of winter running motivation as well as do something positive for a charity whose mission I strongly support. The description I posted for this challenge on the Dailymile site is below:
“After a week of too much turkey and too little running, we all need some motivation to keep moving through the holidays. If 10 people break 120 miles for December, I’ll donate $120 to the ING Run for Something Better Program. Heck, I’ll probably do it anyway, but this is a lot more fun, and I’ll credit all who meet the goal on my blog. Let’s do it! If you can’t make the mileage, here’s an idea – donate a dollar amount equal to your December mileage to a charity of your choice! If you plan to do it, just drop a comment here – we can all make a difference through running this year!”
Goal: Everybody tries to run 120 mi
Well, as it turns out, an amazing 150 people signed up to participate in this challenge, and 52 successfully completed my proposed goal of 120 miles for the month. That’s 42 more than the target number I chose, which I am truly floored by given that we’re talking about an average of 30 miles per week in the cold of winter during a time when most people are hunkering down for the holidays. These are people who understand the value of exercise, and demonstrate this through the miles they put in out on the road and trail despite the weather and the distractions of the holiday season. I cannot think of a better set of role models for those very children supported by the ING Run For Something Better program, and I was happy to follow through and make my donation to this great group. For accountability, you can confirm that I followed through by checking my donation page here. If you’d like to donate toward my modest goal of $300, I’d be honored – I’m only $35 away!
Thanks to everybody who participated in this challenge, I can’t say enough how much I appreciate your effort and the example that you set. Lets keep this ball rolling into 2010!
Below are the 52 runners who completed the Dashing Through December Challenge. You can view the entire list of participants here on Dailymile.com.
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