2013 half participant guide

Race toStop MS

PARTICIPANT GUIDENYC HALF MARATHON

WELCOME TO THE RACE TO STOP MS PROGRAM! Thank you for accepting the endurance challenge of a 13.1 mile run, as well as the fundraising challenge of raising critical funds for the National MS Society. The fundraising you do will support the National MS Society’s goal to: STOP the progression of MS in its tracks; RESTORE function that has been lost and END the disease forever. Funds also support vital programs and services for people in the area living with MS. Thank you for joining us as we move closer to a world free of MS.

How does the Race to Stop MS – New York City Half program work? You have been accepted into the Race to Stop MS program as either a full team member or a supporter team member. All full team members are required to raise a minimum of $1,500 to participate and receive one of our guaranteed entry spots into the race. All supporter team members should have received a spot into the race on their own and are required to raise $750 in order to receive all of the team perks.

As a Race to Stop MS - New York City Half team member, you are entitled to the following benefits:

• Guaranteed entry into the 2013 New York City Half Marathon

• A personal fundraising web page and use of our online fundraising tools

• Race to Stop MS training wearable

• Race to Stop MS personalized event day running jersey

• An in-training T-shirt

• Invitations to team social events

• Professional training and coaching

Save the Dates:• January 8: Training program begins

• February 7: Team kick-off happy hour meet and greet

• February 8: Deadline to reach 50% fundraising minimum (full - $750; supporter - $375)

• March 7: Team happy hour and jersey pick-up

• March 11: Deadline to reach 100% fundraising minimum (full - $1,500; supporter - $750)

• March 15: Team Pasta Party

• March 17: 2013 NYC Half

• April 22: Final fundraising deadline to become a Top Fundraiser by raising $2,500

1 | raceMSnyc.org | Call: 212-463-9791 | Email:[email protected]

THANK YOU FOR RUNNING!Read a personal story from one of our past Race to Stop MS Half Marathon team members

I have always enjoyed running and typically run three to four miles. I wanted to do the New York City Half Marathon to challenge myself and after speaking with my doctor, she suggested I run on behalf of the National MS Society. I usually do not tell people about my diagnosis, so I was hesitant. After much consideration, I realized that I didn’t have to tell anyone that I wasn’t comfortable discussing this with and I decided to do it! I followed writer and runner Hal Higdon’s half marathon plan which is very manageable. I trained with a good friend, which was very helpful because we gave each other much needed support and motivation. I also cross-trained by incorporating Soul Cycle spin

classes and a “yoga for runners” workshop. During my training, I learned a lot about myself. I have two young children and I had to manage taking time out for myself to train. I learned to pay extra attention to what I put into my body and forced myself to rest. I also incorporated fresh green juices, chlorophyll and made sure to stay hydrated. Raising money for the National MS Society was incredibly eye-opening. I ended up revealing my diagnosis to more people than I ever thought I would. The support I received from friends and family was absolutely amazing. It ended up being one of the best things I have ever done for myself. While training, I physically and mentally felt the best I had in a long time. When I completed the half marathon, I crossed that finish line with an incredible feeling of empowerment. Melissa Remhild 2012 Race to Stop MS NYC Half Member

Email:[email protected] | Call: 212-463-9791 | raceMSnyc.org | 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS:FUNDRAISING 101 .......................................................3-4

YOUR PARTICIPANT CENTER HOW-TO GUIDE ...........5

BECOME A RACE TO STOP MS TOP FUNDRAISER! ......5

CHEERING STATIONS AND CHEER KITS .......................6

TRAINING INFORMATION ...........................................6-7

WHERE YOUR MONEY GOES .........................................7

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ................................8

ABOUT MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS .........................................8

ABOUT THE NYC – SOUTHERN NY CHAPTER..............9

Share your story and tell us why you Race to Stop MS. Email [email protected] today!

Melissa Remhild (center), pictured with Alison Kunofsky (left) and Jenny You (right).


Be RESOURCEFUL:• Use Facebook and other social media outlets:

• Our Boundless Fundraising tool allows you to use Facebook as an easy and fun way to raise money and awareness among all your friends. You can upload the tool to your Facebook account through your online Participant Center.

• See if your company has a Matching Gift Program (see Matching Gift Program section on page 4 )• Ask your boss if he or she would be willing to grant anyone who gives a donation a “dress down”

day at the office.• Ask if you can change your voicemail or email signature to include a URL/link for people to donate.• Ask for permission to put a poster and a collection jar in the break room. We can create a custom

poster for your fundraising efforts. Just ask!

• Get your company involved:

FUNDRAISING 101 Have FUN with FUNdraising! Here are five easy steps to get you started:

1. BE BOLD – aim high when you set your goal. Don’t forget about our Top Fundraiser level for all individuals who raise $2,500 or more. Top Fundraisers receive an embroidered track jacket and other great perks. Update your goal on your Participant Center so it is proudly displayed on your fundraising website and share your goal when asking your friends and family for support. When you surpass your goal, be sure to update your page with a new one!

2. BE THE FIRST – start your fundraising off with a bang by making a self-donation toward your fundraising goal. Others will be more inclined to give if they see you have made a donation yourself.

3. BE PERSONAL – share your story with your donors. Tell everyone you know why you are participating in the NYC Half Marathon with the Race to Stop MS team.

4. BE SIMPLE – go online and use the set of easy-to-use online fundraising tools right at your fingertips called your Participant Center! You can set up a personal web page, send out emails, and track your progress. Go to www.raceMSnyc.org to log in to your Participant Center and get started now!

5. BE CREATIVE – we have all kinds of innovative fundraising ideas and tips to help get you started. Some ideas are listed in this guide and you can find over a 100 more at www.raceMSnyc.org. If you would like to meet with a Society staff member to discuss your fundraising plan and take advantage of more resources, please contact Nicole Cannizzaro at [email protected] or 212-453-3262.

MENTOR PROGRAM Is this your first Half-Marathon or your first time fundraising for an endurance event? We have mentors available who are Race to Stop MS team alumni and are experts in the field of training for marathons and fundraising! Contact Nicole Cannizzaro at [email protected] if you would like to be set up with a mentor.

$1,500 can cover the cost of a scooter for someone living with MS.


• Don’t be afraid to share your story and make your fundraising personal. Tell your friends and family why you are passionate – whether it is the excitement for the challenge of running a half-marathon or if it is a personal connection to the Society’s mission to help create a world free of MS.

• Stick to traditional methods of in-person asks, letter writing, and emails. Sometimes these are the best methods.

• Hold a raffle – ask people to make a donation to your Race to Stop MS fundraising to receive a ticket for a drawing and ask a local retailer to donate a prize that the winner will receive.

• Offer to do something unusual or embarrassing that you know your friends would love to see if you raise a specific amount – like shave your head or dye your hair a crazy color.

• The best tip we can give is to BE BOLD in your asking:

Plan your own fundraising event:Whether it’s a dinner party at your home, a garage sale, a karaoke night or a bowling tournament, planning an event is a great way to raise proceeds to benefit your fundraising goal.

Ideas include:

• “A Night Out”: Partner with a local bar or restaurant for a fundraising night and ask if they would be willing to donate a percentage of one night’s profits to benefit your fundraising efforts. In exchange, you help pro-mote the local business by inviting all your friends and family! The business may even be willing to put out MS information or brochures on the tables to help raise awareness AND money. To receive a list of recommenda-tions of local bars/restaurants to partner with, contact us at [email protected].

• Bake Sales/Garage Sales: Ask neighbors to donate gently used goods or baked goods that you can sell at your home or a community event.

• Exercise for a Cure: : Ask a local gym if they would be willing to teach a Zumba or yoga class for free and invite friends, family and community members to participate for a set donation fee.

Matching Gifts:You can drastically increase your fundraising total by having your donors apply for matching gifts! Many compa-nies have matching employer gifts and volunteer incentive programs to maximize their financial contributions to non-profit organizations. This means they will match their employees’ donations to non-profits, increasing your fundraising total and bringing us closer to a world free of MS.

How it works:

• Send an email to your donors explaining the benefits of Matching Employer Gifts and let them know they can access an employer lookup at www.nationalmssociety.org/employermatch

• Follow the procedure outlined by your company’s matching gift program; printed materials may be mailed to:

National MS Society Attn: Race to Stop MS Matching Gifts 733 Third Ave., Third Floor New York, NY 10017

• Our staff will send confirmation to the donor’s company. Upon receipt of the matching employer gifts check, we will credit your Race to Stop MS fundraising efforts with the amount. While this process may take up to several months, if we have received the matching gift paperwork by the final fundraising deadline of April 22, 2013, we will include the pending donation in your Race to Stop MS fundraising total.

The New York City – Southern New York Chapter can support your event in the following ways:

• Provide you with a list of recommendations of local bars and restaurants to use for an event.

• Provide you with literature about multiple sclerosis and the National MS Society.

• Provide you with the Race to Stop MS logo (the chapter must approve use of the logo on materials in advance).

• Society staff members may be available to attend your event to speak about the National MS Society.


MOBILE FUNDRAISINGManage your fundraising on the go with our Race to Stop MS mobile application. Update your Web pages, send emails and check your progress - all from the palm of your hand! Keep your fundraising going through the final fundraising deadline. The free application is available for iPhones and Droids, and is available to all registered Race to Stop MS participants. How It Works:

1. Search MS NYC SNY in either the iTunes App Store or Droid Market. 2. Download the mobile application to your phone as you would any other app. 3. Log in with the same username and password that you use online at www.raceMSnyc.org. If you do not know your username and/or password contact us at [email protected] or 212-463-9791. 4. Use the app to email, view your donors, update your fundraising page, get updated event information, share your fundraising progress on Facebook and to check the status of your personal and team fundraising


MY PARTICIPANT CENTER – HOW-TO GUIDE Utilizing the online fundraising tools available in your Participant Center is the fastest and easiest way to jumpstart your fundraising.

How It Works:• Step 1: Go to raceMSnyc.org and select ‘My Participant Center’.

• Step 2: Enter your username and password to access your Participant Center.

Keep track of yourpersonal fundraising and update your goal

Send emails to your contacts – you can use template messages already created orpersonalize your own

Customize your personal web page with personal messages and photos

Upload contacts to your address book to be able to email them all at once


RAISE $2,500 OR MORE AND BECOME A TOP FUNDRAISER! Benefits of being a Race to Stop MS Top Fundraiser include: • Race to Stop MS Top Fundraiser commemorative wearable item embroidered with our Race to Stop MS logo

The opportunity to register and participate in one of our other signature events (Bike MS New York City or Climb to the Top) with no registration fee or minimum fundraising requirement

TRAINING INFORMATION Race to Stop MS has teamed up with JackRabbit Sports to provide a training program for Race to Stop MS NYC Half participants. Training classes are held every Tuesday evening at 6:45 p.m. and Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. beginning January 8 at Central Park. We ask that participants commit to attending at least 80% of the coached sessions. What’s included in the program is:

• Twice weekly coached sessions

• Bag Watch for the weekday workouts

• In-between class “homework” and suggested workouts

• JackRabbit training program technical T-shirt

• 24/7 online coached support and guidance

• Team Night at JackRabbit with a special 15% discount

• 10% off all in-store JackRabbit Sports merchandise

• Race day preparation so that all questions are addressed

Training tips to follow:• Don’t Over-Train: the worst thing you can do is over-train. It’s much better to be slightly under-trained than over-

trained. Over-training is one of the surest paths to injury, in which case you won’t even make it to the starting line.

• Increase Mileage Slowly: there is a natural progression to building the endurance and strength it takes to complete 13.1 miles. Going from a long run one week of seven miles to one of 10 miles the next week will only do harm, and again, is inviting injury. There’s a “10% Rule” which says that you should increase your weekly long run by no more than 10% - it’s a general guide, but it’s best not to stray far beyond that.

• Recover: there’s no need to train hard five, six or seven days a week. When you have a hard training day, ease up the following day or take a break altogether. Recovery and plenty of rest are essential to improvement and remaining injury free.

• Practice Nutrition: You are increasing your level of exertion so you should be prepared to increase your caloric intake. You will need to take in some nutrition on race day and you should use your long runs as a testing ground for what type of nutrition and hydration work best for you. Along with a running journal, also keep a nutrition journal. This way you will have your nutrition needs worked out well before race day.

Contact Jenny You at [email protected] or call 212-453-3228 to register for the training program.


CHEERING STATIONS AND CHEER KITS We want you to feel the love on race day so our staff will be stationed at a cheer station along the route to encourage you to keep going! We welcome your friends and family to join us at our Race to Stop MS cheer station. We will create Race to Stop MS Cheer Kits for them to use – all kinds of great items like signs, noise makers, pom-poms, etc. will be included and you can pick these up at the pasta party on the Friday before race day.

WHERE YOUR MONEY GOESMS stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn’t by helping each person address the challenges of living with MS. The funds you raise enable us to provide vital programs and services for people living with multiple sclerosis, and fund research initiatives to find the cause of the disease, improve thera-pies and ultimately, find a cure.

Here are a few examples of how your donations help:Programs and Services:$75 will pay for a family to receive counseling when a loved one has just been diagnosed with MS.

$100 will cover the cost of a walker for someone living with MS who has difficulty walking.

$250 will provide three sessions of rehabilitation therapy.

$1,500 will cover the cost of a scooter for someone living with MS.

$2,500 will provide 150 hours of homecare assistance

Research: The National MS Society has declared that NOW is the time to take action and that when it comes to a world free of MS, enough is not enough. Only all is enough! We have embarked on a five year $250 million dollar research revolution NOW so that No Opportunity will be Wasted.

Through the NOW campaign we will: STOP the progression of MS in its tracks; RESTORE function that has been lost; and END the disease forever. With your participation and support in Race to Stop MS, we can make a bold commitment to do more NOW.

Early and ongoing treatment with FDA-approved therapy can make a difference for people with mul-tiple sclerosis. Learn about your options by talking to your healthcare professional and contacting the National MS Society at nationalMSsociety.org or 1-800-344-4867 (1-800-FIGHT-MS).

Where Your Money Goes


FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONSIs there a minimum fundraising requirement? Yes. Team members who were accepted via the ap-plication process and granted an entry to the race are required to raise $1,500. Supporter team members are required to raise $750 to be eligible for team benefits. Your $100 application fee is applied towards your fund-raising minimum.

Where do I send my donations?Please forward your donations in the form of check or money order (no cash pleas) to:

National MS SocietyAttn: Race to Stop MS733 Third Ave., Third FloorNew York, NY 10017

Who do I make checks payable to? Make checks payable to Race to Stop MS. Also remem-ber to include your name and account number in the memo section of each check.

How long does it take for checks to show up in my Participant Center? It depends how many checks the office receives and how close it is to the event. Checks that are mailed prior to the event can take two to four weeks to show up on your account. To avoid the wait, always encourage your donors to sponsor you online. Online donations are safe and easy.

What is my Participant Center? Every Race to Stop MS participant receives an online fundraising account that is accessed through the Par-ticipant Center. Online fundraising accounts enable participants to create personal web pages, provide email

tools to solicit donations and have reports to track your fundraising.

What if my company wants to match my donations? To take part in the Matching Gifts Program, you can visit www.nationalmssociety.org/employermatch to look up your employer and their Matching Gift forms or con-tact your Human Resources Department and ask for a Matching Gift form or instructions on how to submit the matching gift online. Make sure you include your name so we can apply the match correctly. Please include a printout of the online donation or a copy of the check if possible. Send the completed form to:

National MS Society Attn: Race to Stop MS 733 Third Ave., Third FloorNew York, NY 10017

Are donations tax deductible, and how do I get a receipt? Yes. All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. Your cleared check or credit card trans-action serves as a receipt. Donors giving $250 or more will automatically receive an acknowledgement from the National MS Society by the end of the calendar year in which the donation was made. Receipts are also avail-able for the donor upon request. Contact us at [email protected] or call us at 212-463-9791 for assistance.

If you still can’t find the answer to your question after reviewing the above information, please feel free to con-tact our office at [email protected] or 212-463-9791.

ABOUT MULTIPLE SCLEROSISMultiple sclerosis, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system, interrupts the flow of information within the brain and between the brain and the rest of the body. Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with MS. Symptoms range from reduced or lost mobility to numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with at least two to three times more women than men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S., and 2.1 million worldwide.


ABOUT THE NYC – SOUTHERN NY CHAPTERThe New York City – Southern New York Chapter of the National MS Society is committed to helping the 10,000 residents living with multiple sclerosis in the five boroughs and Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Orange and Sullivan counties continue moving their lives forward. The chapter raises funds in support of the Society’s critical research initiatives and to provide hundreds of annual comprehensive support services and educational programs for people living with MS, their family and friends. Our staff and volunteers are dedicated to achieving a world free of MS.


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.September 7-8, 2013 MSchallengewalkcapecod.org

October 6, 2013www.bikeMSnyc.org www

Climb to the Toppresented by:

March 3, 2013 www.climbMSnyc.org

April 27-28, 2013www.walkMSnyc.org

733 Third Ave., Third FloorNew York, NY 10017

2013 half participant guide

Documents

ms program

ms half marathon team

ms training wearable

progression of ms

team perks

supporter team members

past race

world free of ms