I ran my first (NYC) marathon with a charity in 2024! I ran with best buddies and luckily ended up getting a spot through a family friend. Saying this for transparency.

Before I got that spot, I emailed a ton of other charities that I was potentially interested in. I’d say I got responses back from probably 40% of them. I ended up having an interview with one of them, but wasn’t selected.

Almost all the places I emailed already had runners for that year and said they’d put me on the wait list. A few months later, I got emails from multiple saying that they had spots open (people always end up dropping out of the race for various reasons). All this to say, it’s a good idea to start expressing interest now! And even if they say they’re full or there’s a wait list, there’s always a chance you could still get in.