Jingle Bell Race

The Jingle Bell Run is held every winter. It is usually held in December. This run is an event to have fun and get some exercise. The winter is cold but it is a good time to get out and exercise. The annual race raised money for the Arthritis Foundation. Money is raised from entry fees the participants pay and donations some runners collect. Participants run or walk five kilometers, which is a little more than three miles.
	The main sponsor for the Jingle Bell Run is the restaurant Max and Erma's. The race is ran to raise money for curing Arthritis. For the race you can choose to do the 5k run or the 5k walk. It is a great event to run with your family. People dress up and tie jingle bell to their shoes.
Here is a little bit about arthritis. Arthritis, regardless of the cause, typically makes your joints painful, stiff, and swollen. Arthritis affects nearly 43 million Americans, roughly one American in six. Based on predictions of population growth, in 2020 an estimated 60 million Americans will have some form of arthritis. Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common type; it affects more than 20 million Americans. These are some ways to make your joints feel better eat well, get moving, work smarter, relieve stress and pain, and get tips from the doctor.
	Wear a fun, seasonal costume and tie some jingling bells to your shoelaces to capture the best of the holiday season. Participants receive t-shirts, goodie bags and jingle bells for their shoelaces. There’s free food, entertainment, costume contests, and prize drawings.
	Fundraisers like the Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis work on a simple honor system whereby participants seek out pledges from donors. Donors may promise a set amount of money or they may pledge an amount of money per mile or kilometer covered by the participant. The Jingle Bell Run for the Arthritis uses a database of past participants from past Runs in order to attract sponsors. Sponsor forms are printed every year from an Arthritis Foundation format. The Jingle Bell Run Committee, consisting of a small nucleus of volunteers, mails the forms to past participants, who then seek out a number of sponsors and pledges for the Race. Volunteers also take the fliers to key distribution areas, including local McDonald's restaurants and Wal-mart stores, to increase the exposure of the event.
There is another Jingle Bell Run it is called the Bill Rodgers Jingle Bell Run. It is held in Boston. All of the money raised goes to the Bill Rogers Foundation which supports non-profit organizations. In 1997, Bill Rogers wanted to go on a run with his friends through the streets of Boston. The idea grew and know people are running in a race through the snowfall.
	In Birminghan there was not alot of people participating in the race. The sponsors of the Jingle Bell Race decided they would throw a contest in to the race. They wanted to see who would were the best winter costume. Now they have many more people participating.