Endurance Magazine Raises over $500,000 to Support Food Security Through Fitness Challenges

December 18, 2020

Event participants enable over 5,000,000 meals to those in need across North America

Chapel Hill, NC — Chapel Hill-based Endurance Magazine has motivated over 26,000 people across North America to raise over $500,000 for local food banks and hunger relief programs.

Since May, in the midst of COVID-19 business closures, quarantines, and unprecedented social distancing, Endurance launched a portfolio of virtual challenges that inspire people of all fitness levels to raise funds so local charities can address food insecurities.  Before the pandemic, food insecurity impacted about 1 in 8 people.  Since COVID-19 shutdowns, food security affects 1 in 4 people.

“What Endurance Magazine and these Challenges have been doing for people in need of food in the Carolinas has been phenomenal.  Our biggest need is for food, and with food drives and donations limited at this time due to the pandemic, donations from these races are critical,” says Mike Darrow, Executive Director of Feeding the Carolinas, , which is a Partner State Association of Feeding America, working on behalf of the network’s affiliated food banks.

“The best part about the Challenges is that it is grassroots, with many people all helping a little, which adds up to a lot.  Such a blessing, and such an impact,” Darrow said.

The Feeding America® network estimates 10 meals for every dollar donated. This calculation means over 5 million meals can be covered by funds raised so far by Endurance Magazine’s virtual races nationwide.

Feeling Better While Doing Good

And along the way, challengers are discovering the impact of developing new habits to improve their health and wellness across the board.  To date, Endurance has inspired challengers to complete over 4,000,000 miles in less than six months.

“We’ve been thrilled to witness the generosity and good will of people across the country (and Canada), and so many have shared how these challenges have changed their lives and personal outlook as they create new sustainable habits of fitness and wellness” said Steve Lackey, founder and President of Endurance Magazine.

Endurance has launched 11 challenges since May through October, and is poised to launch several more over the coming months. “Our focus has been on engaging with local communities to support local charities so the people participating can be connected to their community as they challenge themselves to achieve their goals” said Lackey.

The challenges include epic six-month events — Blue Ridge to The Beach (NC), Tahoe to Malibu (CA), Boston to Bar Harbor, Manhattan to Montauk (NY), and Bend to Whistler – as well as various six-week Food Run Challenges in NC, SC, TX, OR, IL, CO, and Toronto.  Challengers are able to choose how they cover their miles – they can run, walk, bike, swim, ski, paddle, or do whatever to cover their miles.  And, each challenge has a new “wave” start each month to allow people the full six months to achieve their goal.

Making An Impact in North Carolina

North Carolina charities benefiting from race donations include Table, Inter-Faith Council for Social Service, Feeding The Carolinas, and Beautiful Together, which helps feed foster youth. To date, of the $500,000 raised, over $120,000 has been raised for North Carolina food banks and hunger relief programs.

Lackey said the new goal is to raise $1,000,000 and enable 10 million meals across North America.  And, he plans to do that by engaging over 50,000 challengers through 2021.

Get Engaged for 2021!

New engaging challenges will be launched January 1st and registration is open. To register or to donate you can go to LifeYouLead.com to see the current list of available challenges, select yours, and get engaged.

For more information, contact Endurance Magazine at (919) 537-9788 or social@endurancemag.com.

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About Endurance Magazine

Founded in 2003, Endurance Magazine inspires and engages people of all fitness levels via media and events.  Endurance has produced both in-person and virtual events for over 15 years, with a strong emphasis on donating to organizations doing measurable good in the world. In that time, we have raised a combined $2 million dollars for local and national charities. Our current virtual challenge efforts focus primarily on supporting local food banks, feeding programs and hunger relief initiatives. As of November 2020, we have raised over $500,000 for our local partners. Our goal is to raise $1M through our portfolio of challenges, which promote food security in local communities across North America. All non-profits receive 100% of the donations made to charities selected by our challengers.