Every year for the past seven years I have either run or walked the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Indianapolis. It is an unbelievable event. Even more than the money that is raised, I am impacted each year by the stories that I encounter. When you see a child wearing a picture of his mother with the words “In Memory of Mommy” written on it, you can’t help but be moved. And for every picture or story like that, there is another woman wearing a big pink boa and celebrating her recovery. The crowd is filled with stories of both hope and sorrow, which makes it all the more important to me that I involve my family.

In years past, I have done the race myself while my family played games and waited for me at the finish line. My kids have begged me to participate, but I always selfishly wanted that time to run by myself and reflect. This year will be the first year that the whole Sunshine Family participates. My 9-year-old, Jillian, will be running with me. My husband, Kevin, and my 7-year-old, Cassie, will be walking it. I want my family to understand not only that this cause is important to me but also why it should be important to them.

We have joined a team that will be supporting a teacher from the girls’ school who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. I’m not sure that my girls even know it yet, but we will talk about it when the race gets closer. I’m not asking for my friends to donate, but if this is a cause that you believe in as strongly as I do, I ask that you consider participating in some way–in Indianapolis or in any of the other races across the country. If you are an HPE parent, please consider joining Susi’s Spring Peepers for Mrs. Murphy.

I initially got into running because of the Race for the Cure. After walking it for a number of years, I decided to start running it. I didn’t run fast, but I could run a 5K. After a couple of those, I decided to run my first half marathon last May. For some crazy reason, I signed up for it again this year. Just as I was starting to tire of my training, a great new opportunity came along to turn my runs into money for charity.

Affiliate Summit has started a Nike+ Challenge in which they will donate $1 to the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade for each mile run in the challenge (up to $5,000). When I saw this, I immediately hit my local running store to buy a Nike+ tracking sensor and wristband. I then visited the Affiliate Summit East 2010 Challenge page on Nike’s website and set up my account.

Now when I run, I have a higher purpose. I logged a little over 13 miles last week interspersed with my Zumba days. During each run I kept telling myself that each mile was more money being donated to help fight breast cancer. Hopefully this challenge will keep me running well past the Indy Mini and into the summer up through Affiliate Summit in New York in August. If you are an affiliate marketer and are up for a little fitness challenge (whether you walk or run, the sensor works the same), you should definitely check it out. If nothing else, help cheer the rest of us on!

The first year that I was married, my husband’s company was getting together a group of people to walk the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Indianapolis in honor of the company attorney, who at the time was battling breast cancer. It was my first experience with the race and I just kind of faded into the crowd. A few years later I was working with two women who were fighting breast cancer and remembered the walk years prior. I decided to get a couple of friends together and take it seriously. I raised a little money and dedicated it to my two grandmothers and my friends from work.

As the years went on, Race for the Cure became more and more important to me. I started actually training for it and attempted to run it. After that, I involved my business, Sunshine Rewards, in the fundraising. I went from walking the race to running it to using it (this year) as practice for running a mini marathon. I went from raising no money to asking a few friends to donate to matching my members’ SR contributions.

I’m not asking you for money, but I’m asking you to get involved in some way. Check out my Race Page and get some education about breast cancer. Tell a friend about it, too. Find a race in your area and get together some friends to walk. Or you could always donate.