Racing for a Reason

In the old days, runners would show up at the starting lines of 5K and 10K road races wanting nothing more than to improve their times and schmooze with fellow fanatics. The lucky ones would nab the low-numbered Popsicle sticks handed out at the finish line to help keep track of winners.

How things have changed since those ice age ‘70s.

These days, many participants who toe the starting lines of 5Ks and 10Ks--plentiful across the country and booming in Southern California--are less likely to be concerned about their course times than about how much money their efforts will raise to fight breast cancer or AIDS or fund other causes. Some also see the events as a way to spend quality time with their families--or to celebrate their own survival.

The exercise part is still important, the foundation from which all else springs. But runs and walks for charity have also become extravaganzas--exercise with a flourish, a cause, a monetary goal, a personal passion. And sometimes a five-piece band.

More often than not, a health-related charity is on the receiving end of profits, and event coordinators are under the gun to produce bigger and better extravaganzas to retain a following year after year.

Decades ago, “if 300 were at a race, it was a big event,” says Judy Ikenberry, a veteran runner and the co-founder with husband Dennis of Race Central, which provides high-tech timing and finish-line results for many races. An average run now has 1,000 participants. Some draw thousands more. The Revlon Run / Walk for Women in Los Angeles in May, a 5K event to benefit research for ovarian and breast cancer, drew 42,000 registered participants, says a spokeswoman.

“Runs have become more sophisticated,” says Lois Schwartz, co-publisher of the Competitor, a Southern California monthly publication that lists a full calendar of runs, walks and other events. “There’s professional timing, goodies at the finish line, high-quality T-shirts.”

“On any given weekend, there are probably eight to 15 runs in the L.A. area,” says Ikenberry. Across the country, there are at least 12,000 runs annually, says Ryan Lampa, a statistician for the Road Running Information Center in Santa Barbara, part of USA Track & Field, the national governing body for running. “More if you include fun runs.”

With all that competition, persuading celebrities to join the cause is one way to attract participants. Some events include special celebrity runs, usually much shorter versions of the regular course. Others tout big names on their promotional fliers. Tommy Lasorda was an honorary chairman of the Walk / Jog-a-thon for Autism in June in Santa Monica. Whoopi Goldberg, among others, lent her name to this year’s Revlon Run / Walk for Women. And Robert Wagner appeared this year at the Jimmy Stewart Relay Marathon, which benefits the Child and Family Development Center at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica.

To meet the “quality time” wishes of participating parents, many events now include special events for children, usually called Kiddie Ks or Munchkin Miles.

Other trends include more runners over age 40 and more participants who don’t consider running their primary workout, says Lampa.

So it follows that walks are becoming more popular--and that walkers are overtaking runners, at least in sheer numbers, at some events. At the Revlon Run / Walk, Ikenberry estimates, about 30% run and 70% walk.

Slowing Down

Even those who run are becoming slower, probably due to the cross-training phenomenon. A couple of decades ago, calling oneself a runner generally meant being able to run at least an eight-minute mile, says Ikenberry. But in a recent 10K she timed, the fastest of the runners crossed the finish line at about 55 minutes, clocking about a nine-minute mile.

“Times have slowed down,” Lampa agrees. “But it’s not a bad thing. Now the emphasis is on completion, not competition, on fitness and health.”

Whatever their speed, not all participants are lean, mean, low-body-fat machines. If there’s a little flesh drooping over the running tights, so what? Some participants are too happy to be alive to worry about a little extra flab.

That would describe many participants in the Race for the Cure, sponsored nationwide by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. “Most people who participate aren’t here for the strict competition,” says Helen Wilson, executive director of the Orange County affiliate of the foundation. Last year, she estimates that more than 16,000 took part in the Orange County Race for the Cure.

Particularly touching at the Race for the Cure, to be held this year on Sept. 27, are the participants who wear back signs, pink paper placards that tell others the participant is racing in memory of a loved one who died of breast cancer or in honor of someone who survived, maybe herself.

To fatten the charity coffers even more, another trend is emerging. A small but growing number of events ask participants not only to pay the typical $15 or $20 entry fee, but also to raise pledges.

Those who participated in the Revlon Run / Walk this year received awards for extra pledges, such as an embroidered sweatshirt for raising $150.

Those who enter Avon’s Breast Cancer 3-Day Oct. 23-25, which benefits breast cancer research, first pay a $55 entry fee and then must raise at least $1,700 in pledges before embarking on the 60-mile trek beginning south of Santa Barbara and winding up north of Malibu.

At information sessions that began early this year, representatives briefed potential walkers on how best to raise the funds, suggesting fund-raising parties or even taking a potential donor to lunch and asking for a specific--and substantial--pledge amount.

“They sound like fund-raising Nazis,” said one woman, who heard about the pledge requirement and decided not to sign up.

Passion for a Cause

But Sue Frank of Los Angeles doesn’t consider the pledge requirement an obstacle. Frank, a 53-year-old breast cancer survivor, quickly raised $2,600 in pledges. “I normally don’t ask for things,” she says. “But I have to because I am committed to the whole breast cancer cause.”

Frank’s zeal is often shared by others fighting cancer, AIDS and other life-threatening diseases. So how much can all their blood, sweat and solicitations deliver?

“A small 5 and 10K, of about 1,000, with a walk and a Kiddie K, can average between $10,000 and $15,000 profit,” says Walt Walston, owner of W2 Promotions in Santa Monica, who serves as an event coordinator for many runs, including the Dog Jog in Brentwood, which benefits the Guide Dogs for the Blind and gives dog biscuits and bandannas to four-legged finishers.

Last year, the Orange County Race for the Cure netted $577,000, says Wilson, after expenses of $251,000.

This year’s Revlon Run / Walk netted $2.5 million, says a spokesman.

Officials for the Avon event say they have more than 2,400 registrants and hope to raise more than $4 million in profit.

The question is, how much of the profit goes back to helping that good cause. Recently, Dan Pallotta, who created the highly successful AIDS Rides and is also involved in the Avon 3-Day, has been the target of criticism for returning too little of the profit to charities. On average, the 22 AIDS Rides nationwide return about 57% of contributions back to charities, according to Bill Barker, chief operating officer for Pallotta TeamWorks, which produces the rides. But the returns on the 1996 Philadelphia AIDS Ride fell far short, returning only about 28%, or $420,000, to charities, according to Barker. Pennsylvania officials investigated and found that Pallotta’s group made some errors in registering as a nonprofit fund-raising event. Without admitting wrongdoing, Pallotta TeamWorks has agreed to pay Pennsylvania $110,000, most of which is tagged for the sponsoring AIDS charities.

Part Goes to Charity

Under the standards of the National Charities Information Bureau, a New York-based watchdog organization, these events should be able to turn over at least 60 cents of every dollar to the charity, says Dan Langan, a spokesman. More appropriately, the number should approach 70 cents, he says. And the 300 charities evaluated by the foundation do even better, returning an average of 75 cents on the dollar.

It’s a figure most race officials know. Hank Castillo, race director for the Human Race, a 5K and 10K walk held in May in Griffith Park to benefit 125 charities, says the benefactors can expect a 75% return.

Has the road-race phenomenon peaked? “It’s hard to say,” says Wilson. “What we have heard from around the country is that each Race for the Cure has doubled.”

According to USA Track & Field, growth continues, particularly in the 5Ks, half-marathons and marathons.

As long as there are causes and diseases to conquer, there will be road races, others say.

And that, in turn, may help turn around a nation notorious for its couch potatoes.

As Wilson and others have noticed, a funny thing can happen on the way to fighting for a cause. Exercise becomes part of the package.

Frank, when asked if she would keep exercising to prepare for the upcoming 60-mile walk if she didn’t have such a passion for her cause, didn’t hesitate before answering.

“Well, I certainly didn’t exercise before.”