Run for Africa Race Volunteer

I served as a volunteer "sweeper" Sunday at the 3rd Run for Africa 5k&10k runs -- running behind the last runner and making sure no one is lost and abandoned somewhere out on the run course. I was pleased to be able to again help Taro and his Harriers team and his cause - an orphanage in Zambia.

Over the past two weeks I have received at least a half-dozen announcements of upcoming charity running events here in Tokyo - Terry Fox Run, Tyler Foundation, Run for the Cure, Run for Hunger... While the US endurance event calendar is dominated by charity events, it seems that most Japanese events are sponsored by local government recreation department bureaucrats. The Japanese bureaucrats always do a good job in their diligent and conscientious way, but I think the US charity/corporate sponsor model delivers more for the money and effort. So this sudden proliferation of charity runs strikes me as a good thing.

I have a bit of background in the world of philanthropy having established IRS 501(c)3 non-profits in Nevada and Hawaii, co-founded a micocredit lender in Central America, worked at the Low Income Housing Fund in San Francisco, orchestrated a $3 million Intuit software donation in Southeast Asia, .. I like to think this effort has made some positive difference, but to be honest, my exposure to the non-profit world has left me a bit cynical. I always struggled with feeling that there was too much focus on fundraising and internal politics, and too little donations reached the actual program.


The best events are when the run itself is a meaningful statement. Juergen Wittstock and I helped to launch the Save Mount Takao Run two years ago - an event protesting the construction of a redundant highway through a treasured wilderness area. After paying for marketing, timing devices, postcards, etc. surprisingly little of the money raised went to the environmental group programs. But the very fact that hundreds of people showed up was a statement to the highway authorities. Moreover after the race, the runners wore the Save Takao t-shirt, and the participants all heard the Save Takao message and were able to see and experience the threatened area first-hand.

Also when the cause is personally meaningful, doing a grueling endurance event and raising money provides a sense of empowerment. For example, a few years ago in San Francisco back when people felt helpless in the face of AIDS, pushing themselves through the 500-mile AIDS bicycle ride gave them a sense that they were personally helping to accomplish something for people they care about. So I guess I need to find an event raising money for ulcerative colitis

I am convinced the community here would embrace the "Team in Training" concept. I know several close friends in California who gushed about the life transforming nature of the experience. The Team in Training participants at the Wildflower triathlon had more enthusiasm and camaraderie than even high school kids, singing and crying and rooting each other on. I have pondered how to modify this concept here, but to do it right would require large-investment of full-time staff and corporate sponsors.


So for now I will simply find sponsors and start training for one of the small local charity runs -- like World Run Day or Run for Mika.