NYC Marathon and Grassroot Soccer ...

Do you remember that time I ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon? You know, that time when I met Ethan Zohn? (Yes, that Ethan Zohn - Survivor winner, cancer survivor, Co-Founder of Grassroot Soccer, and Runner's World July 2011 cover model ...)

Well, as you may recall, while at the Princess Half, both Katye and myself were asked by Ethan to join Team Grassroot Soccer for the NYC Marathon. Initially, I was flattered. I mean, if we are being honest here, it's pretty cool to get an invite from the founder of the charity.

But the more I thought about it, the more honored I became. I was being given the opportunity to use my running to give back. For so long, running has given so much to me - Sanity. Health. Friendships. Purpose. Passion. And now, I was going to be able to use running as an agent of change.

For those of you who don't know about Grassroot Soccer, here's a little information about their mission:

"Each day more than 7,000 people die of AIDS, and it is the leading cause of death of women globally.

At Grassroot Soccer, we see a world mobilized through soccer to create an AIDS-free generation. Our mission is to educate, inspire and mobilize youth to stop the spread of HIV. By 2014, GRS plans to reach 1 million youth with life-saving education. To date, we've graduated 393,225 girls and boys from our programs globally.

To achieve our mission, we continuously improve our innovative HIV prevention and life-skills curriculum, share our program and concept effectively, and utilize the popularity of soccer to increase our impact."

To learn more visit, www.grassrootsoccer.org

I have pledged to raise $3,000 for Grassroot Soccer and I know with your support, I can reach my goal. And to help with my fundraising, I will be hosting a raffle of some of my favorite products starting in June. Entering is easy. All you need to do is make a donation HERE. The more you donate, the more entries you get. As of today, the following companies have donated items to be raffled off ...

RoadID, GU, Allied Steel, TMB Endurance Bands, Jessica's Gifts, See Jane Run (think "I Run for Chocolate and Champagne Race Series"), Zensah, Tough Chik, Raw Crunch Bars and Partylite.

Sounds good, right?