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A powerful earthquake and tsunami struck Northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011 causing damage beyond one's imagination. Ever since, I have been thinking about what I can do to help. What came to my mind was Just Giving. It’s a charity site which allows individuals like me to collect funds for a specific purpose by imposing a challenge on oneself. Others cheer you on by donating money. Of course, the donations DON’T go to me. They go to a specific organization chosen by the challenger.

It has been three weeks since the natural disaster struck Japan. Many people have already started to collect relief funds through Just Giving. This makes me happy as the concept of “charity” is just recently developing in Japan. So I, too, have decided to join this group of challengers by doing what I can at the present.

My challenge is simply, to run. I didn’t want to make it a specific challenge like finishing a marathon or running for a PR. Just as my country is making step by step improvements towards recovery, I wanted my challenge to be a daily process. Something continuous. So my challenge is to keep running for charity, to keep running for Japan.

Specifically, I will strive to raise 100,0000 yen. The funds will all go to CIVIC FORCE, an organization delivering relief services in the hardest-hit areas of Northeast Japan. So that you know I am actually running for a cause, I will also keep track of my mileage. My goal is to run a yearly mileage of 2011km and 311m. For some, this may not seem like much of a challenge. But I feel it is a reasonable first step (challenge) for me. So please check out the details to my challenge!

I will also be using this blog to keep a record of my running (mileage, races, thoughts, scenery…etc). If you are interested in my progress, feel free to check up on me any time.

Please cheer me on as I run for my country. And thanks so much, for visiting!