This post was sent to us in December from runner Amanda Strnad of Atlanta, Georgia.  Amanda raised more than $1310 for her local pregnancy center.  Read about her incredible experience, and check out GoMoGo.org to join her in gaining ground for life! 

Two weeks ago today, I participated in my second Half Marathon. This time, as I approached a wall between mile 10 and 11, I didn’t have to ask myself why I was inflicting such pain on my body. I had a purpose.

Last year, there were several moments during the Half that I questioned my sanity–13.1 miles. Why did I ever want to do this? Though crossing the finish line is an incredible rush, I’m not a runner who lives for race day. I race to train; I don’t train to race.

But this year was different. I wasn’t running just for the sake of running or to prove something to myself. I had a cause to support. I was running for life.

The journey began in July when I ran my 1st Peachtree Road Race. While walking to MARTA after the race (the hardest part of the whole thing), I saw a group in purple shirts sitting on a bench. They had run as a team for a leukemia cure. I decided then that I wanted to run for a cause, but though there are many wonderful causes to support, none of the majors struck the right chord with my heart.

I knew that if I was going to ask people to sponsor me, I needed to find a cause that I was passionate about. I sighed, wishing there was a pro-life team to run with, but quickly dismissing the possibility that any such team existed. I began praying for Papa to guide me to a team I could get behind.

Not two weeks later, I was volunteering at the pregnancy center when the executive director asked me to look at something with her in her office. She had received information on Marathons for Moms (now Momentium) and asked me if I would look into the details.

The funds you raise through Momentium goes directly to your local pregnancy care ministry. Now this was a cause I could get passionate about! And I thought a pro-life team didn’t exist–what an incredible answer to prayer!

The site is so user friendly that in less than 15 minutes I had read the details, joined the cause and created my personal fundraising page.

I want to thank each and every one of my sponsors again for their support. I reached my fundraising goal and could not have done it without your help. You were each a part of this race and are now a part of the wonderful ministry of the Atlanta Pregnancy Resource Center. Thank you for being the hands and feet of Jesus to these women. I pray that Papa’s hand of favor will rest on you for your generosity.

What better way to let your friends and family know that you are serious about gaining ground for life, than to show them through your Facebook profile pic?  With Mo as your profile pic, you are giving a face to the unborn every time you show up in your friends’ news feed.  Please take a minute to save this image and upload it as your profile pic, or you can find it on our Momentium Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/MomentiumMo.  

Click on this link to see how easy it is to train for a half marathon!

16 Week Training Schedule

In case you didn’t think Momentium is cool enough, we bring you … our first commercial!!!!  We are so pumped up by the great work that our friends at Nack Creative did to help us get the word out to folks all across the country who believe in doing something incredible for the sake of the unborn.

Do you know someone who believes that every child deserves a chance at life?  Share this video with them and let them know the difference that they can make by joining Momentium at www.GoMoGo.org.

I can’t tell you how many times I have been asked that question.  The answer is simple:  you pick the race, you pick the place (and therefore, you pick the date).   To help you along your way, we’ll even connect you to these handy sites that list half-marathons around the United States:

www.halfmarathons.net

http://www.marathonguide.com/races/races.cfm
(hint: where there is a marathon, there is usually a half-marathon)

What’s great is that there really is a half-marathon for everyone.  Last year when I decided to run my first half-marathon I knew I didn’t want a hilly course, and I didn’t want to run in a race with 15,000 people who would leave me in the dust.  So, I looked online and found a small race on a bike trail about 2 hours north of my house, near some of my family.  Honestly, that was the perfect race for me – and it was on the only weekend I actually had free.  Trust, me there is a race for you – all you have to do is seek and you shall find.

But really, I often want to respond that the race is now.  We cannot wait.  Women need our help.  Babies need our help.  You might be thinking, “Oh, I don’t want to start training while it is cold and snowy out – I’ll just do an early fall marathon.”  The truth is though, that women need your help now. There are women, ages 14-44 walking into pregnancy centers across the country seeking guidance – seeking hope, truth, love.  If we want these women to find open doors and open arms, we need to act now.  Join Momentium and raise the support that your pregnancy center needs to save lives.  Visit www.GoMoGo.org to register and learn more.  What are you waiting for?

Megan Palmer is the National Coordinator of Momentium.  To contact her with questions, email meganp@GoMoGo.org

Someday Momentium will be a household name.  In fact, that goal is what keeps me going each day.  And not because of my own vain glory, but because it will mean that thousands of individuals will have embraced the call to fight for women in crisis pregnancies.

Today, however, I repeatedly hear the question, “Momentium?  What does that mean?”

The answer is simple.  Momentium is a strength for life gained by motion.  At first when we were praying through and discussing new names, the word “Momentum” stuck out to us because that is precisely what each individual participant does as they move towards their goal of raising $1,310 for their local pregnancy help center.  But something wasn’t right – it wasn’t enough.

We needed a name that would convey that we are going to gain more than momentum for the pregnancy help community and the women and babies that it serves.  That’s where Momentium came from.  The simple act of adding an “I” in there added an additional sense of strength, a focus on the future (think millennium),  and a greater feeling of movement.  And that’s what we want – a stronger pregnancy help community ensuring the care of future generations and carrying the value of life to all areas of our country.  That’s what Momentium is about.

Now it’s my turn to ask you a question.  Will you strengthen your local pregnancy help center by joining Momentium and gaining ground for life?  Will you provide strength for life to women in your area by running or walking a half-marathon?  And just as importantly, will you ask others join you?  Visit www.GoMoGo.org to register and to learn more.

So, Marathons for Moms has become Momentium.  What does that exactly mean?  Well, really, not a whole lot – except that we are serious about raising $3 Million of life-saving support for pregnancy help centers this year.

The program is essentially the same – you pick your state, pick your center and register to raise support for that center.  We give you a super cool personal fundraising page where you get to tell the world about yourself and why in the world your pregnancy center should have more money to serve more women and babies.  You can even load up your favorite photos and videos and write personal messages.  Then you can connect that page to Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, or whatever social media program you frequent.  You send emails to your friends and family and link to your personal page and ask them to support you in gaining ground for life.  Sounds like the same deal, right? Right.

The only difference now is that we have a name that doesn’t cause people to think we are a program to get moms to run marathons.  We have a name and a brand that reflect our commitment to excellence for our centers and their funding.  A name that is inclusive to runners and walkers, half and full marathoners, men and women, young and old.

Why is that important?  Because women need our help.  They need to know that they are loved and that the child in their womb is loved.  In order to get that message out there (along with pregnancy support services to walk with those women) we need more participants.  More men and women to get out there and gain ground for life by participating in any race in any place and raising money for their local pregnancy help center.

Will you help us?  Will you be a participant who raises money?  Will you be a participant that raises up more runners?  Visit www.GoMoGo.org to register, or click here to learn more about that process.

-Megan Palmer, Momentium National Coordinator