Attention RUNNERS and WALKERS!

Run Marine Corps Marathon or 10K Run and join Team Azalea Charities.  You’ll get a lot more satisfaction from your marathon or 10K experience knowing you’re helping wounded soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as veterans from previous wars. Last year Team Azalea Charities had 48 marathon runners from 15 states, the District of Columbia and Belgium who raised over $69,000 from more than 750 generous donors.

Registration for this year's Marine Corps Marathon is now closed, but you can still join Team Azalea Charities (with no fees required) if you are already registered for the marathon and wish to participate in a great cause!  Registration for the 10K is now only open by registering directly with MCM (Click here) until 30 September 2008 or until it fills up.   Once you complete your registration for the 10K, come back to this site to join Team Azalea Charities (with no fees required) and dedicate your 2008 10K run to our wounded servicemen and women.

How does this work?? Azalea Charities Inc. is a Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) Charity Partner and has obtained entries into this year’s 2008 marathon and 10K run, both held on Sunday, October 26, 2008.  After 1 August 2008, we were no longer allowed to extend our entries to runners due to a deadline established by MCM.  However, we’re still excited to have runners who are already registered for the marathon and 10K (still open for registration) join our team.

Charities participating in the MCM Partner Program typically require a minimum fundraising goal for each of its participants who have obtained bibs through the charity.  For these runners, the minimum fundraising commitment to Azalea Charities, Aid for Wounded Soldiers was only $500.00 for the marathon or $200 for the 10K run by race day.  This commitment was well below the minimum required by many other charities since we were looking to fill our team with individuals who are passionate about our cause and willing to set a higher individual goal to reach our $225,000 Team Azalea Charities fundraising goal for 2008.  As an added incentive for marathon and 10K runners to raise their minimum, Azalea Charities will give a full refund on race entry fees obtained through the charity ($95 for the marathon, $50 for the 10K) if one raises $1,000 or more by October 15, 2008.  

For marathon and 10K runners already registered for the run directly though MCM, there is no fee to join Team Azalea Charities and you have no minimum fundraising commitment, though we’d still encourage you to raise as much as you can by race day.

See below for fundraising resources available to you as a Team Azalea Charities runner.  You’ll have some excellent web-based tools at your disposal, including an individual fundraising web page (powered by Active Network) that you’ll be able to easily build, together with a secure on-line credit card donation capability hosted on your web page. 

For runners obtaining their bibs through Azalea Charities, it’s important we know our runners are committed to our Aid for Wounded Soldiers project by at least showing solid progress toward meeting their minimum fundraising goal to support our October 15, 2008 deadline.  If somehow you are unable to solicit your minimum donation amount before October 15, 2008, you will be required to make a personal contribution to Azalea Charities for the balance of your $500/$200 minimum in order to maintain your spot in our 2008 marathon/10K team.               

Click here to join Team Azalea Charities now

MCM Transfer Policy. Registered but unable to run? You can transfer your 2008 MCM entry to another would-be marathoner up until September 22.  The new transfer system for the 2008 MCM will require the registered runner to fill out the online transferor request form and receive a confirmation email with a one-time use code. This email should be passed to the transferee, who will need the code to fill out the online transferee application and pay the $25 transfer fee.  Please contact Norm Albert at normtreadingwater@yahoo.com if you wish to transfer your registration since he maintains a ‘waiting list’ of runners who are interested in running with Team Azalea Charities.   If Team Azalea Charities has runners on its waiting list to participate in the marathon or 10K and you have to drop from the race before the September 22 MCM deadline for transfers, you can complete the requisite transfer form above and receive a refund for your entry fee.  If no one is available on our waiting list, we will not be able to refund your unused registration. 

As a member of Team Azalea Charities, you will receive the following:

• First and foremost, the personal satisfaction of supporting the needs of our sick and wounded soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines in rehabilitation upon returning from Afghanistan and Iraq

• A guaranteed slot in the 2008 marathon or 10K

• Your own personal website, painless to set up and manage your fundraising campaign

• Ability to fundraise for a worthy cause and solicit checks by mail or credit card donations online without handling any cash transactions

• Sample fundraising memo and email that you can personalize

• Charity-generated receipts & thank you memos (for checks received by mail) & automated Active Network-generated email receipts and thank you notes (for online donations) to your contributors

• Charity-generated donation confirmation emails (for checks received by mail) & Active Network-generated confirmation emails (for online contributions) sent to you so you know who has contributed to your fundraising campaign  

• A 2008 t-shirt and running singlet (made of a wicking fabric) to be worn on race day  with Team Azalea Charities, Run for Wounded Soldiers logo on front and back (in the mail to you before October 1, 2008)

• Opportunity to meet Azalea Charity board members, volunteers, fellow runners & supporters at the Team Azalea Charities Carbo-loading, Family Style Pasta Lunch, free to you and  for an optional contribution from family & supporters, on Saturday, October 25th at 1 p.m. at Buca di Beppo, 1825 Connecticut Ave. N.W. Washington D.C., just north of Dupont Circle metro.  Last year’s lunch was fabulous!

• Team photo taken our pasta lunch, with candid photos taken along the course and at our start/finish line tent

• Directions, signs & noise makers to charity volunteers and each runner’s supporters & family to form our Team Azalea Charities cheering squad along the course

• Team Azalea Charities Tent (near start/finish line) with food/drinks post-race, secure place to store personal items during the race, place for friends & family to meet with online access to a laptop to monitor the runner’s progress

• Guaranteed spot on our 2009 Team Azalea Charities for every runner meeting or exceeding their 2008 minimum fundraising goal

Still interested?? Please join Team Azalea Charities online by clicking here.  Then immediately personalize your fundraising page after receiving a confirmation email from Active.

Questions about Team Azalea Charities?  For the marathon, contact team coordinator, Norm Albert, at normtreadingwater@yahoo.com.  For the 10K run, contact team coordinator, Joani Mills, at jbmills59@aol.com.

Questions about Azalea Charities, Inc. and our Aid for Wounded Soldiers project?  Contact charity CEO, Mr Frank Lasch, at azaleacharities@aol.com or visit our home page at www.azaleacharities.org. 

Questions about the Marine Corps Marathon, go to www.marinemarathon.com.

*No Federal or Marine Corps endorsement of
advertisers or sponsors is implied.

Azalea Charities, Inc., is a not-for-profit organization
under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code.