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Running the Elvis 5K? Download This App to Fight Homelessness

By Paul Biasco | August 12, 2014 5:23am
 The Elvis is Alive 5K is Thursday night.
The Elvis is Alive 5K is Thursday night.
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LINCOLN PARK — The owner of Fleet Feet Sports Chicago hopes some runners dressed as Elvis can help raise $100,000 to help local homeless people get back on their feet.

Fleet Feet is partnering with sportswear company Mizuno to enlist Chicago's runners to rack up $1 per mile for the rest of the week.

Mizuno's "Baton" mobile app tracks a runner's total distance over a seven-day period and the company will later donate $1 per mile to Back on My Feet.

As of Monday afternoon, the Mizuno Baton app had tallied $74,382 for the miles completed by runners who had downloaded the app nationwide.

Fleet Feet's Dave Zimmer, who is a member of the Chicago chapter's board for "Back on My Feet," is urging the 1,500 participants registered for the annual Elvis is Alive 5K can push that total to the $100,000 goal.

If all 1,500 of those runners download the app, the race alone would add roughly $4,500 to the total.

Any other training this week or runs in the days following Thursday's race would also be counted toward the goal.

Back on My Feet is a nonprofit that uses running to help people experiencing homelessness achieve employment and independent living.

The organization, which started in Philadelphia, uses running to promote self-sufficiency and create a personal transformation eventually leading to access to training, employment and housing resources.

Forty-six percent of homeless people who have joined onto the program have either found a job, housing or both, according to Back on My Feet.

"When you think about someone who is training for a running event they are generally dedicated, on time, goal oriented," Zimmer said. "Those are the attributes you are looking for in an employee."

The Baton application is available in the AppStore and through Google Play.

The Elvis is Alive 5K kicks off at 7 p.m. Thursday at 2550 N. Canon Dr. across the street from the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum.

Registration for the run is $30 in advance at fleetfeetchicago.com anytime before race time. 

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