Running & Charity Miles

Running. Running and I have a love hate relationship. I love the way I feel after I finish a run. I love how strong my body becomes when I’m disciplined about running regularly. However, I don’t necessarily love the way I feel during a run. When my legs are aching – dreading that upcoming hill – and my lungs are trying to convince me that air is no longer a friend that wants to stay. These are the moments when running and I are not friends.

Recently I learned about the mobile app, Charity Miles, and it has given me new motivation to run – especially on the days when my bed is a lot more inviting than my running shoes.

Anyone who is active – or is looking for motivation to be more active – can use Charity Miles. If you love (or even just like) to run, bike ride or live in a city where you walk a lot, Charity Miles enables you to fundraise as you go about your daily routine. Bike riding earn $0.10 cents per mile, walking and running earns $0.25 per mile for charity.

All you do is launch the app, choose from one of their charity partners, and begin your work out. The app runs in the background, so you can still listen to music and use other fitness tracking apps. All you have to do is remember to post your completed workout on Facebook and Twitter for the charity to receive a donation.

Not only does Charity Miles donate, they also share with you the impact of your fundraising. My run of 2.4 miles fundraising for She’s The First covers 2.4 weeks of school for girls in low income countries. Since I also completed this run during the Humana Challenge – Humana is matching my donation (up to a pre-determined cap).

And the best part – not only is the app free – you’re not responsible for donating (they don’t even take your credit card info!) or asking friends for donations. Corporate Partners, like Humana, Timex Sports, and Lifeway Foods, donate cause marketing funds to cover the money raised, up to pre-determined amount per charity.

You can download the app for either iOS or Andriod. The next pay out is May 2015, so you can start making a difference today.