Participant
FAQs

No, but we encourage all participants to set competitive goals for themselves and for their team to help us raise critical funds for the cancer community. Don’t worry if you have never done peer-to-peer fundraising – we can help!

Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, 100% of all participant-raised dollars support EMF's portfolio of funds:

• Discovery Fund at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
• Research Fund at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Samfund which provides financial assistance to young adult cancer survivors

Yes!

Once you register on the website, you will automatically receive a personal fundraising page. Team captains will create Team pages.

Yes, a donation can be made to your team page. If a donation is made on your individual page, it is credited to you and your team. If a donation is made on your team's page, the donor will have the option to credit the donation to a specific individual. If the donor does not select an individual, the donation will go to the team, without individual credit.

Yes! Check out our website for some helpful tips on how to maximize your fundraising. 

For starters, here are our four best practices: 

1. Personalize your page
2. Share on social media
3. Email your contacts
4. Rule of 3 reminders – people appreciate reminders!

Yes! If a donor is donating in a way other than a credit card, they should complete this form so you get credit on your page. 

Donors may contribute by sending a check or donate through their Donor Advised Fund, as well as through payroll deductions, stock, United Way or company matches. Please make checks out to Expect Miracles Foundation and send donations to: Expect Miracles Foundation 89 South Street, Suite 701 Boston, MA 02111 Expect Miracles Foundation (tax ID: 20-4127495) is a registered 501c3 nonprofit organization. Donations are deductible to the full extent allowed by applicable tax laws.

Please use this form to get credit for any donations that are not made via credit cards. 

No, but it can be! While most participants ask for donations to support their participation in the Distance Challenge, you may ask people to pledge a certain amount for each mile you complete (i.e. $5/mile). You will need to personally keep track of your pledges so that you can follow up with those supporters after you finish the Distance Challenge.

It's exactly as it sounds. If your team is started by a company or made up mostly of employees of a company, you should select Corporate Team.

Whereas, if the team is made up of mostly friends & family, please select that team type.

The leaderboards will be sorted by Corporate / Friends & Family and we will present awards in each category. The reason for the two options is to help keep the categories fair and equal.

Yes!

Anyone 2 and above can participate! Do keep in mind, however, that there are two types of teams: a Corporate Team and a Friends & Family team. A Corporate Team should mainly include employees of that company.

Teams are welcome to name more than one captain to help rally, lead, and motivate their team to reach their fundraising and mileage goals. However, due to restrictions on the website, only one person can technically register and be listed as a Team Captain on the fundraising page. If you do have more than one captain, feel free to mention so on your fundraising page & contact us to let us know: (DistanceChallenge@expectmiraclesfoundation.org). 

Every company is different. If you want to create friendly competition between your office locations or business groups, having multiple teams is a great strategy. Or, if you’d like to have just one large company team, that’s fine too!  

When an individual registers they will select an “organization.” So even if your employees are on different teams, you will be able to see an aggregate fundraising and mileage leaderboard based on teams and organizations.

Yes, donations can be made to a team page.

If a donation is made on your team's page, the donor will have the option to credit the donation to a specific individual. If the donor does not select an individual, the donation will go to the team, without individual credit.

If a donation is made on your individual page, it is credited to you and your team.

Logging miles will begin on May 15.  There is an option to track your mileage through linking Strava, MapMyFitness, and Garmin. A "Fitness Tracking" section will appear on the backend of your fundraising page on May 15, where you will find instructions for linking apps. Additionally, we will email instructions for how to connect wearables. You can also self-submit your mileage on our website. 

That's great! We are excited to hear you will be doing something that gets you moving for the Distance Challenge. You are welcome to swim, dance, rollerblade, etc! If you would like to submit your distance in the fitness tracker on the backend of the website, you are welcome to, but please note the leaderboards will only display biking & run/walk. Our staff will send you a conversion sheet for how to track your acitivity in mileage. You will still be seen on the fundraising leaderboard! 

No, just mileage. 

During the week of May 15-21, you can view leaderboards on our website and track organization, team, and individual; fundraising & mileage.

Yes, each participant may run, walk or bike as many times as they would like during the day / week.

That is perfectly fine!

For running and walking: Participants can run or walk outdoors, run or walk on a treadmill, or use an elliptical to log miles.

For biking: Participants can bike outdoors or track via a stationary bike. 

For "other" activity: You can track your activity by time. Our staff will send you a conversion sheet to change your time to mileage. Unfortunately, we will not have a leaderboard for miscellaneous activities but your fundraising will be shown on the fundraising leaderboards!

For questions, please contact us: DistanceChallenge@expectmiraclesfoundation.org

May 6, 2023. It will take place 9 days before the Virtual Distance Challenge begins. Anyone partcipating in the race AND the Virtual Distance Challenge will receive 2.5 miles on their distance tracker. 

Virtual Distance Challenge
$40 per adult
$20 per child

In-Person Race
$50 per adult
$30 per child

Distance Challenge + In-Person Race
$75 per adult
$35 per child

Franklin Park Zoo, located at 1 Franklin Park Rd, Boston, MA 02121.

Registration opens at 6:30am and be open until 7:45am. Runners will start at 7:30am and walkers can start at 8:00am. Please arrive with enough time to get your bib and begin with your run or walk wave.

Yes you can. You only need the name they registered under to do so. Be sure to coordinate, we have had situations where someone picked up a packet for another and the original runner also showed up asking for their packet.

The walk/run is taking place within the property of the Franklin Park Zoo. The race is 2.5 miles and a route map will be sent to all participants. 

Yes, there will be a bag check.

Due to the tight route, runners cannot push a stroller. However, if you plan to walk, you can push a stroller. Children under 2 can ride in stroller at no additional charge. Children 2+ must be registered for the race. 

The Franklin Park Zoo is accesible via Boston's public transportation. Additionally there will be plenty of free parking available on the Zoo premise. Registration will be held at the zebra entrance. Parking is free and is located across from the zoo and along the golf course.

Participant safety is a high priority. Security personnel are present throughout the property and along the route. 

Expect Miracles Foundation will adhere to all COVID-19 protocols put forth by the state of Massachusetts and the CDC at the time of the event.

We strongly discourage the use of headphones in our races. If you do use headphones, please keep one ear free and listen for instructions from the race monitors.