10 Spring Charity Runs to Have on Your Radar

Valley Forge Revolutionary Run | Photo courtesy Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board

If you’re going to run, anyway, you might as well do it for charity, right? Right. Check out these races coming up in the next few months, from competitive 5Ks and eight-milers to everything in between.

Valley Forge Revolutionary Run 5-Miler
When: April 19th at 8:30 a.m.
Where: Valley Forge National Historical Park, 1400 North Outer Line Drive, King of Prussia.
Benefits: Preservation of the Valley Forge National Historical Park

This popular five-mile run returns for its 10th year. The USATF-certified course winds over rolling hills and past historic landmarks inside the park. The race fetches more than 1,200 runners from six states. There’s also a three-mile fun run/walk. The event has raised over $200,000 for the park over the past 10 years, and organizers anticipate raising around $25K this year.

Stroehmann Walk + Run Against Hunger
When: April 11th at 8 a.m.
Where: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Fairmount.
Benefits: More than 100 food pantries, soup kitchens and hunger-relief agencies in Southeastern Pennsylvania and South Jersey.

The chip-timed 5K race runs along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Prizes are given to top finishers, and there’s free food and entertainment at the finish line.

Philadelphia Get Your Rear in Gear 4-Miler
When: March 22nd at 8:40 a.m.
Where: Please Touch Museum, 4231 Avenue of the Republic, West Fairmount Park.
Benefits: Colon Cancer Coalition.

Runners get refreshments and tech shirts, and age-group winners get medals. There’s also a two-mile walk option. Funds raised go to support colon cancer screening and awareness in the Philly area.

The Wharton 5K
When: April 11th at 8:30 a.m.
Where: University of Pennsylvania.
Benefits: Camp Kesem, a student-led nonprofit organization that provides a free weeklong summer camp for children who have or had a parent with cancer.

Explore UPenn’s University City campus at this popular race. Runners will complete two loops right through campus, starting line at the Van Pelt Library on College Green. Trophies are given out for the top three male and female finishers and age group awards. Runners who register before April 1st are guaranteed a tech shirt.

Bookin’ for Lookin’ 8-Miler
When: April 19th at 8:30 a.m.
Where: Council Rock High School North, 62 Swamp Road, Newtown.
Benefits: Foundation Fighting Blindness and Bucks County Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

This out-and-back race starts at the high school but heads into pretty Tyler State Park. About half of the course features hills. Runners will receive a long-sleeve tech shirt and a complimentary cannoli courtesy of Meglio Pizzeria. There’s also a post-race party at a nearby bar where runners will receive a complimentary buffet. Awards are given to top overall and age-group finishers.

Philly Rabbit Run 5K
When: April 4th at 8 a.m.
Where: Philadelphia Zoo, 3400 West Girard Avenue, West Philly.
Benefits: Shake It Off, an organization that helps fund Parkinson’s disease research.

This chip-timed race takes place on the grounds of the Philadelphia Zoo. Runners get free zoo admission, and spectators can get discounted zoo admission. Awards will be given out to top finishers.

Sandy Sprint Superhero 5K/10K
When: April 25th at 8 a.m.
Where: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Fairmount.
Benefits: Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Foundation.

Superhero costumes are encouraged at this chip-timed race. You can choose to do either the 5K or 10K distances. Bonus: Dogs are welcome to run, too.

Run to Rebuild
When: May 16th at 9 a.m.
Where: Forbidden Drive at Northwestern Avenue in the Wissahickon.
Benefits: Rebuilding Together Philadelphia.

The timed out-and-back 5K will take you along the gravel path in the Wisshickon. The fastest runners in each age group will win an award. Proceeds from the event will be put to work immediately to implement critical repairs, safe-at-home, and healthy-home projects for low-income homeowners this spring.

Mother’s Day 10K
When: May 10th at 9 a.m.
Where: Washington Crossing.
Benefits: A Woman’s Place, committed to the empowerment of women and to ending intimate and domestic violence.

This chip-timed 10K along the Delaware Canal gives awards to the top three men and women finishers, as well as age-group awards to female runners only. Women get tech shirts size specifically for female bodies (hallelujah!), while male participants get commemorative pint glasses.

Run for Babies 5K/10K
When: April 26th at 8 a.m.
Where: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Fairmount.
Benefits: March of Dimes.

This chip-timed race begins at the Art Museum takes you around some of the area’s most beautiful sites, including Boathouse Row. Proceeds support local programs that help moms have healthy, full-term pregnancies, and funds research to find answers to the problems that threaten babies’ health.

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