Where there’s a cause, there’s a runner

Runner Tony Stafford’s commitment to raising money and awareness for the American Lung Association is part of a strong legacy of philanthropy when it comes to The Wild West Relay. For the event’s entire seven-year history, the race has been associated with Volunteers For A Cause. Teams entering the Wild West can either choose to provide volunteers to assist with race checkpoints and staffing or make a donation to Volunteers With A Cause. The organization taps local nonprofits to staff the race and then repays them with financial support for the volunteering organization. According to Vanderheiden, Volunteers for a Cause has distributed more than $120,000 to local nonprofits since the program was founded.

While it’s too late to get involved with the Wild West Relay this year, you can ink in the event for next year. Learn more at wildwestrelay. com, where you can also sign up as a runner or team for next year’s event, see course maps and descriptions and learn more about how to get involved with both racing or volunteering via Volunteers For A Cause.

For those wanting to get involved in other races that have a philanthropic mission, check out the Run The Rocks event on Oct. 10. Sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, the event benefits the American Lung Association. Don’t worry; at 5K you won’t be feeling too much pain. Perhaps you’ll even graduate from this event to marathons and ultimately, like Stafford, end up racing the Wild West. Learn more here: lungcolorado.org For those who would like to support Stafford and his fundraising mission (or to send him some blister first aid kits), please contact him via info@bouldersportsperformance.com