Challenge 4 Charity Half Marathon

Serving on the board of Challenge 4 Charity is by far one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had thus far at Haas. Challenge 4 Charity is the only club on campus in which everyone is a member. We have a number of initiatives coming up, including a March Madness bracket challenge, an annual spring auction, and the C4C Sports Weekend held on the Stanford campus.

Sports Weekend is a highlight of every Haas student’s experience — a culmination of lots of volunteering, lots of fundraising and lots of fun! This year, we’ve decided to implement a few new fundraisers. I’m especially excited about our newest fundraising program, which involves training for a half marathon while raising funds for charity!

A little bit of background information…

Each year, a consortium of top-notch business schools raises funds and contributes volunteer hours to benefit the Special Olympics through a friendly competition. The MBA Challenge for Charity (C4C) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that draws on the talents, energy, and resources of MBAs from nine West Coast business schools to support Special Olympics and family-related local charities, to develop business leaders with a lifelong commitment to community involvement and social responsibility. Since 1996, C4C has contributed over $5.8 million to the Special Olympics and other local charities, as well as donated tens of thousands of hours of community service. C4C today remains the World’s Largest MBA Non-Profit Organization.

The UC Berkeley, Haas Running Group and Haas C4C Chapter have partnered to raise money for this great cause. 20 runners are training for the US Half Marathon 2, held in San Francisco on April 8, 2012, in an effort to raise funds and awareness for C4C. Proceeds will benefit the Special Olympics and Alameda Point Collaborative of Oakland, California.

I’m excited about this idea because it combines two of my passions: running and fundraising. I adapted the C4C Half Marathon idea from Team in Training–an organization for whom I’ve run and fundraised in the past. The C4C team has just set up a website to collect donations and will be jogging, walking and running all over Berkeley over the next few weeks to prepare for the big race. The funds we’ll raise as we train for the US Half Marathon 2 will facilitate free sports training and competitive events for children and adults with developmental disabilities. Because of our collective efforts, special needs athletes across the state will participate in aquatics, basketball, bocce, bowling, floor hockey, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field and volleyball free of charge. Through sports, Special Olympic athletes will develop physical skills as well as a powerful and resounding belief in themselves.

The idea of running a race to provide recreational outlets for special needs athletes really resonates with me and I hope we see lots of success with this fundraising endeavor. My dream would be to implement half marathon training/fundraising into our annual C4C fundraising agenda. I look forward to seeing what this season brings!

Shameless plug:
Support our cause! Please donate if you can!

-Alison Brock

My favorite run in Berkeley

If you live in Berkeley and you’re a runner, you will spend half of your time running up hills. That’s the bad news. The good news is that you’ll spend the other half running down them.

My favorite run starts at the door of my apartment. From there, I run up Spruce St. to the entrance of Tilden Park, which is about 2.5 miles of uphill-only running. Along the way, as I get used to the burning sensation in my legs and as I climb above the treeline, I get tons of beautiful glimpses of the San Francisco Bay. I try to keep one eye on the road and one eye on the pretty views.

At the top of Spruce St., I take a right on Grizzly Peak Blvd and continue heading uphill (although this part of the climb is more gradual). On this road, there are usually more cyclists than there are cars. The intersection of Shasta Rd. and Grizzly Peak is my turnaround point, which is just over 4 miles from the door of my apartment.

Woo-hoo! Now I head back downhill. I turn around on Grizzly Peak and run to Euclid Ave., where I take a left and continue my descent. The views are just as good on the way down, and are MUCH more enjoyable.

Euclid winds through the Berkeley hills, often with sharp turns. The downhills are not so steep that I lose control of what my legs are doing, but they are steep enough that the second half of the run is usually faster than the first half.

As I get closer to home, I pass the Berkeley Rose Garden on my right, which at this time of year is a bit of a misnomer, since there is not a blooming flower in sight. ‘Still pretty, though! When I hit this point on the run, I know I’m almost home. Just a few minutes later, I take a left on Le Conte Ave. and head back to my apartment. All told, it’s a 7.5-mile excursion.

If you’re not a runner, don’t do this run on your first day in Berkeley. Or if you do, take it easy for the first 3-4 miles. After that, it’s smooth sailing. Below is a link to the actual route, where you can track the mileage and the elevation.

Happy running, and don’t forget to stretch your quads when you finish!

—Lindsay G.