24 January 2018

Media Contact Information:
(not for publication)

Keith Peters, Media Coordinator
307-690-6803 or [email protected]

Website: www.cherryblossom.org

Charity Race Participant Entries for 2018 Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile and 5K Run-Walk Available Until February 15

2018 Marks Seventeenth Year Credit Unions Have Sponsored Event in Support of Children's Miracle Network Hospitals

January 24, 2018, Washington, DC: Although entries to the 2018 Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run and 5K Run-Walk filled up via the annual lottery in December, runners still have an opportunity to gain entry into this year's event, to be held on April 8, through qualifying for a charity entry. Runners seeking a charity race entry into the "Runners Rite of Spring" just need to raise at least $500 for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals by February 15, 2018. Individuals can raise the funds on their own or by gathering donations from family members and friends.

"Charity entries represent a great opportunity to support the ground-breaking medical research and world-class medical services provided by the 170 Children's Miracle Network Hospitals across the county, and earn a spot on the starting line," said Event Director Phil Stewart. "All funds raised go to the Children's Miracle Network Hospital in the community of each individual fundraiser."

Full details about the Charity Race Entry Participant process are available here. Please note: In addition to the fundraising requirement, Charity Race Entry Participants will be responsible for paying the prevailing race registration fee.

The opportunity to raise funds for the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals is not limited to individuals seeking entry into the race. Confirmed entrants in the 2018 Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run and 5K Run-Walk are encouraged to fundraise on behalf of Children's Miracle Network Hospitals as well. Registration for the fundraising effort can completed here.

The 2018 event will mark the 17th year of title sponsorship by Credit Union Miracle Day. Since 2002, over $8 million has been raised for the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.

About the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile

The Credit Union Cherry Blossom, organized by Cherry Blossom, Inc., a 501c(3) chapter of the Road Runners Club of America, is known as "The Runner's Rite of Spring" in the Nation's Capital. The staging area for the event is on the Washington Monument Grounds and the course passes in sight of all of the major Washington, DC Memorials. The event serves as a fundraiser for the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, a consortium of 170 premier children's hospitals across North America. About one-third of the funds raised support Washington, DC's own Children's National ("Children's Hospital"). The event also funds two $5,000 Road Runners Club of America "Roads Scholar" grants designed to support up-and-coming U.S. distance running talent.

Credit Union Miracle Day, Inc., a consortium of credit unions and credit union suppliers in partnership with CUNA Mutual Group and PSCU, is the title sponsor of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run, 5K Run-Walk and Kids' Run. Supporting sponsors include E-Trade, Gatorade, Gold's Gym, Mamma Lucia, MedStar Sports Medicine, Navy Federal Credit Union, Potomac River Running, Suburban Solutions, and Under Armour.

About America's Credit Unions:

Credit unions provide consumers choices for financial services such as checking accounts, investments and loans of all kinds including mortgages. Funds are federally insured, but unlike banks, there are no stockholders at credit unions. Earnings are returned to member-owners in the form of lower loan rates, higher savings rates, low or no-fee products and services. The credit union philosophy of placing members' needs first is why more than 113 million Americans do their banking at one of America's 5,800 credit unions. Credit unions are for everyone - no matter where you live, there is a credit union to meet your needs.

About Children's Miracle Network Hospitals:

Since 1983, Children's Miracle Network Hospitals has raised more than $5 billion - most of it $1 at a time - for 170 children's hospitals across the United States and Canada, which, in turn, use the money where it's needed the most. These donations have gone to support research and training, purchase equipment, and pay for uncompensated care, all to save and improve the lives of as many children as possible.