U is for Undertaking

Whew! With all of the hype surrounding the lottery selection of the ING NYC Marathon, it was a let down not getting drawn - especially since I spent the day checking my bank account to see if my card had been charged. The site went down almost immediately and no one knew whether or not they had been selected, so thousands of people spent the day constantly checking to see if their cards had charges that would reflect their acceptance for a coveted slot -and bitching about the process all day on facebook.

T and I knew we would have to find a charity to run for if we wanted a slot, but we were both hoping that somehow, we would manage to be lucky enough to get into the marathon via lottery. We weren't.

Next came two days of frantic texting and emailing back and forth trying to decide which charity would fit the bill. In the end, we chose a local group: Team Chances.

Chances for Children is an Arizona based organization. From their website:

Chances for Children is committed to improving quality of life by supporting programs that provide access to sports, physical education, and character education for youth. We provide fitness training, nutritional programs and educational services to students at schools throughout Arizona.

Chances for Children was founded on the belief that in life everyone deserves the chance for opportunity. Research shows that diet and exercise promote a balanced well-being, resulting in positive life achievements.

The program seems really cool, and while I'm not a "kids" kind of person - meaning I don't want any of my own - it seems that this group is extremely dedicated to their cause.

Yes, donations are tax deductible!

It was a hard decision to go with this group, not because we don't believe in their cause but because the amount of fundraising is a little steep. Some of the other charities had a much smaller (and less daunting) amount, but this one includes most of our expenses as well. Since it is local, I can participate in the weekly Saturday long runs with a group, which will be really helpful.

Another bonus is that the team is run by an elite athlete that participated in several Olympic trials. Cool, huh?

The information meeting is May 15th, so we'll find out the rest of the information then, but we paid our $100 registration fee, and we're listed on the team! Wish us luck!