Charities: Opportunity, Hope, and Support for Marathoners

Marathons are about more than just 26.2. They're about community and inspiration.

Reviewed by Margaret Foley

Key points

• About 48 million Americans went for a run in 2023.
• Charity marathon teams help runners find motivation and reach their goals while helping others.
• Charity teams can help people train, heal grief, and build a sense of community.

This year, around 50,000 runners are chasing their dreams through the Bank of America Chicago Marathon course that guides runners through 29 unique Chicago neighborhoods, supported by over 10,000 volunteers and nearly 2 million spectators. It is one of the only major sporting events where the fastest runners in the world will race on the same course, on the same day, in the same event as amateur and first-time marathoners.

Professional runners find their motivation to glide through a marathon by enlisting a team of people to help them properly train, seek endorsements, and challenge their minds and bodies to be the best in the world. These athletes, in turn, motivate other athletes to dig deep and accept the challenge of running a marathon.

But not all runners have the resources to hire a team to help them develop the physical endurance and psychological strength to start and maintain training. So how do novice and amateur runners learn how to physically train and develop the mental toughness to become marathoners?

Finding Motivation

There are many different ways to find motivation. One popular option is to run with a charity team. Running with a charity helps runners form community, train with a running group, and develop a sense of purpose for each step that will lead them to the finish line. Charity organizers spend countless hours helping their teams accomplish both physical and fundraising goals to create memorable and lasting experiences for runners and those who benefit from the charity organization’s work. People will often participate on a charity marathon team to honor a special person, grieve and heal within a community, and strengthen their own psychological motivation.

Running to Honor a Special Person

Many people run with charities in honor of a special someone. When runners know someone who has been impacted by difficult times, they often feel helpless and want to do something to contribute, and that can include raising money. In Chicago, for example, 205 official charity partners have collectively raised $322 million since 2002, when the charity program began. Some of these charities provide resources for people facing serious diseases, while others support foster care for homeless pets or donations for local food banks.

People may run to honor a family member, to show support for another runner, or to make their special someone proud. This is related to a concept within sociology called restitution narrative (Palmer, 2022), which helps people think about illnesses or experiences in new ways and helps them develop a different perspective about healing.

One way the Bank of America Chicago Marathon is honoring a special someone this year is through their recognition of Kelvin Kiptum, who set a world record on the Chicago course in 2023 with an impressive time of 2:00:35. Kiptum, at the young age of 24, and his trainer were tragically killed in an auto accident in Kenya earlier this year. Tributes to Kiptum will be seen throughout the event to recognize his dedication to the sport of running and to mourn together lives lost too soon. Carey Pinkowski, Bank of America Chicago Marathon Race Director, described Kiptum as "sublimely talented." As Pinkowski said, "His spirit will be with us…this year, we run for him."

Grieve and Heal Within Community

As seen in the collective mourning the racing community feels for Kiptum and his team, running with a charity provides the space to create emotional bonds during marathon training and to learn about other runners’ life experiences. Sometimes when people experience a situation that is closely aligned with a charity partner, they can feel very alone. Examples include intense medical diagnoses for oneself or others or a catastrophic loss. Long training runs have a cathartic way of helping people drop their emotional guards and start sharing their stories with each other. And suddenly they don’t feel so alone. This phenomenon, known as social identity, is seen when people align their views within a group (Gomez et al., 2022). The more the emotional guards fade away, the more people can begin to experience healing on a deeper level. They realize that others have felt a similar way and allow themselves space within their hearts to cry, laugh, and heal amongst other runners who just get it.

Strengthen Psychological Motivation

Charity teams can help runners gain clarity on their goals, gain confidence in their abilities, and strengthen their motivation to commit to training and fundraising. Common psychological motivators for runners include developing self-esteem, creating a sense of meaning, and problem-solving (Zach et al., 2017). Runners can have the opportunity to share their “why” of running with each other and gain a deeper sense of purpose with each step they take. Psychological motivation for running can wax and wane during marathon training, so feeling as if one is part of a larger group with an existential purpose, like a charity team, helps people dig deep for themselves and for the overall mission of their chosen charity.

Final Thoughts

While not all runners run for speed, they all run for their “why.” For many runners, every mile is equal regardless of their time. Some marathoners enter races as elite professional athletes, some qualify through fast times, and others enter marathons through charity partners. Charity teams allow runners the opportunity to train in a community of people who have similar goals for their physical and fundraising aspirations. Although the joy of crossing the finish line might slowly fade, what does not fade is the important work that charities do for their communities and the programs they are able to run (pun intended!) thanks to the dedication of their staff, their volunteers, and their fundraising runners.

A marathon is not just about running—it’s about finding peace from within while supporting others.