With his 70th birthday approaching, Chicago resident Chuck Aron was eager for a challenge. An avid runner who has competed in the Chicago Marathon since 2004, Aron wanted to honor his late brother-in-law Paul Bracken, who died in 2001 after a battle with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Bracken would have turned 73 this year, so Aron decided to run 73 races this spring, summer and fall while raising money for the Alzheimer’s Association, Greater Illinois Chapter.
Aron has had no shortage of charity runs and races from which to choose. Dozens are held throughout the Chicagoland area on any given weekend between early spring and late fall. During a four-day stretch between Thursday, June 9, and Sunday, June 12, Aron competed in the Sunset Shuffle 5K in Glenview, the La Grange Rocks 5K, the Trot Against Trafficking 5K in Park Ridge and the River Grove Police FOP 5K.
But why have races and walks benefiting nonprofits become so popular?
According to Running USA, an organization with a mission to advance the growth and success of the running industry, the number of road race finishers in the U.S. rose from just under 5 million in 1990 to just over 19 million in 2013, before declining slightly in 2014 and 2015. Last year, there was a total of 17.1 million road race finishers.
Liz Livingston Howard, director of nonprofit executive education at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, said technology is one of the main reasons the “a-thons” have grown in popularity.
“If you go back to my childhood, pre-the internet, if we were having an a-thon, we had to go door-to-door or get on the phone to collect pledges,” she said. “In today’s world, you just send out an email or a Facebook post with a link to a fundraising page. This is a piece of why we see more of these. It’s easier to do it now.”
Nonprofits have caught on to the benefits of these events. Livingston Howard said a-thons often serve as either fundraisers or friendraisers, the latter building awareness about the cause or brand, thanks to advertising, news coverage, signage, T-shirts and social media posts from participants.
Christie Madsen, the Arlington Heights-based senior manager of national events and brand campaigns for Make-A-Wish America, said her organization’s 60-plus chapters across the nation organize events — walks, runs, bike rides and hikes — that raise money and awareness.
Madsen said peer-to-peer fundraising is one of the fastest growing revenue segments for nonprofits.
“The organization is not just asking someone for a donation, but they are recruiting someone who signs up for a walk or run, and that person is reaching out to their networks, asking for a contribution,” Madsen said. “In addition to fundraising, this is a donor-acquisition tool. It’s a way for organizations both large and small to get a footprint in the community and to acquire new donors and revenue.”
Corporate sponsorship also plays an important role in underwriting many of the runs and walks organized by nonprofits. However, Livingston Howard said corporations have gotten more strategic about their sponsorships and philanthropy in recent years, looking for events that deliver a specific demography. For example, Avon 39 The Walk to End Breast Cancer is a way for the cosmetics company to help women and also reach its core customer.
Many local charities that coordinate their own races do so with some input from the Chicago Area Runners Association, a nonprofit dedicated to running advocacy in Chicago and the suburbs.
Greg Hipp, CARA’s director of road race services and events, said organizers must consider location, budget and staffing in order to coordinate a successful charity run.
“You have to be good at what you’re doing,” Hipp said. “You need a professional approach.”
In addition to providing expertise about organizing races, CARA certifies a number of Chicagoland’s “most well organized and well-appreciated races” as part of the CARA Runners’ Choice Circuit.
One charity race Hipp used as an example of a well-run event is the annual Lake Bluff PTO Pumpkin Chase, featuring a 5K and one-mile run, which will take place this year on Saturday, Oct. 29.
The race, with a course that runs through wooded ravines, along the bluff overlooking Lake Michigan, down tree-lined streets and past historic homes, began in 1988. Rich Martin, now in his 15th year as race director, said the event traditionally drew between 400 and 500 participants.
That number has grown to 800 in recent years after the Pumpkin Chase became a United States Track and Field-certified course in 2012. The certification meant the course’s distances were certified for accuracy, and the designation attracted a more serious group of runners.
In 2014, the race raised $23,000 for Lake Bluff School District 65, according to a statement.
This year, the Pumpkin Chase joins the CARA Runners’ Choice Circuit, and Martin hopes to see participation reach 1,000.
Dan Shalin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @dshalin
