If you’ve been on Facebook or Twitter this week or simply turned on the news, you’ve probably seen at least one person you know take the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge – a viral movement started by 29-year-old Pete Frates that involves dumping ice water on your head and challenging 3 other people to do the same to raise awareness about ALS.

As many of you know, I’m running the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, October 11. I have some really big goals for the race, but there’s something much more important that’s fueling my passion. And it’s directly related to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

I’m running the Chicago Marathon on MDA Team Momentum. That means I’m dedicating all my training and my 26.2 miles on race day to raising money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association to save and improve the lives of people fighting muscle disease. That includes fighting back against ALS. {You can read more about my reasons for doing this and visit my personal fundraising page here.}

If you’re not familiar with ALS (also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s Disease), it’s an absolutely devastating disease. It affects parts of the nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement, causing a person’s muscles to become weak and eventually nonfunctional. Many of the things a lot of us take for granted, like walking, running, talking, eating, hugging and even breathing become nearly impossible, although the mind stays sharp. Most people with ALS live only 3 to 5 years after diagnosis.

These numbers and this disease are just too upsetting for words. I love that the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has raised a lot of awareness for ALS, but what we need more than ever is ACTION!

So, I’m doing something about it.

Help Me Take the Ice Bucket Challenge to Marathon Proportions

For everyone who makes a donation to my MDA Team Momentum fundraising page by this Sunday, August 17, I will dump a bucket of ice water on my head. For example, if 20 people make a donation, I’ll dump 20 consecutive buckets of ice on my head. I will video all of this and post it here on runladylike.com next week.

Will you help me reach my goal of raising $2,000 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association to fight ALS and other devastating muscle diseases? I will also choose one person who donates between now and Sunday at random to receive a free rUnladylike visor.

To recap:

• Donate: Make a donation of any amount to help fight ALS and support my Chicago Marathon efforts at http://www2.mda.org/goto/runladylike 
• Share: Share this post with friends and urge them to turn awareness into action to end ALS. Use the hashtag #ALSIceBucketChallenge when sharing on social media.
• Watch: Be on the lookout for my video next week to see how many donations I received and how many buckets of ice water I’ll dump on my head.

Thank you to Krissy from Shiawase Life and Sandra from Organic Runner Mom for their generous donations. Be sure to stop by their blogs and give them a high five.

I work for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, but my participation on Team Momentum and raising money for MDA was a decision I made on my own. I have never been asked by MDA to promote or talk about this or any other topic.

Will you help me reach my goal as well as embarrass myself in a video here next week?