Break Open The Piggy Bank

Recently, I invited all of my close friends to join me in the Midnight Madness race to celebrate my birthday. My good friend Jackie mentioned that all these races must be costing me a lot of money. Its true that running can indeed be costly, with all the gadgets and new clothing you think you need. But aside from that is the costs that you pay to actually run in organized races. In my opinion, its worth it to pay to run because its a change of pace from running alone. Its also nice to run new trails and meet new people. Theres nothing better then waking up on a sunday and hitting up a race with my cousin or Hans. Its fun, it makes you feel accomplished and perhaps most importantly, the money almost always is going to a cause. For Instance, the 5 miler I did this past sunday was for THON and all proceeds from registration went to Penn State to help cure childhood cancer. In June, my family will be running the Gary Papa run for your life which is for prostate cancer. If you find a good cause, theres no better way to give back and have fun then running! In my limited experience, I would say most 5k races range from $15.00-$25.00. 10k races are about $25.00-$35.00 a half marathon will run you about $65.00-$75.00 and a full marathon is about $150.00. Before you think about all the money you are shelling out, think about the cause you are helping and the great shape you are getting in while logging all those miles! Run and help out a cause near and dear to you :)