This morning, my sister and I did something I never thought I’d enjoy this much — we ran a 5K in Santa Monica. It wasn’t just about running, it was about demonstrating, not just to others but to myself, how easy it would be to participate in events that not only get you moving but also help raise funds.

While I’m okay at it, running has never really been my thing. I do like trying out new ways to stay active and this 5K turned out to be one of the more enjoyable experiences I’ve had. It’s not only great exercise but there’s an uplifting social scene that I wasn’t expecting. There are many organizations that set these runs up but I chose The Best Races, mostly for convenience as they offer races in cities across the country for all sorts of causes, including breast cancer. Registering and getting all set up took less time than running the race. For $35, I got a tee-shirt, a towel, unlimited bottled water, and everyone gets a medal for finishing the race.

The atmosphere was inspiring — people of all ages and backgrounds, running for personal causes, running to stay fit, and some running just to meet people. It wasn’t competitive or stressful. Everyone was there to do something positive.

Best Races offers free teams you can join, or you can create your own. (We created ours here.) The key to all of this is that they set you up with a blog where people can donate money for every mile you run, and they also donate $1 for each mile. So you can actually bring in donations to support cancer research, or whatever cause you choose, just by running which costs nothing. So you’re turning something simple, like jogging around your neighborhood into a way to generate money and make an impact.

I’ve always known that people did this but until today, I never quite understood how it all worked and what it looked like start to finish. I hope my experience shows others how easy and fun it is to participate in events like this. Between signing up, setting up my profile, and running the race, the total time commitment was maybe 4 hours total which includes the drive to Santa Monica and back. (We finished the race in just under 40 minutes.) We used Strava to track our distance and time, mostly because my sister already had it on her phone, but there are other distance tracking apps to choose from.

You do not need to be a serious athlete or train for months for these races. (Some people were walking it.) You just need to sign up, show up, and give it your best shot.