Login

About PETA Pack

Run With the PETA Pack

Participate in team training to stop animal abuse, get in shape, and have fun!

Are you still trying to run a mile without stopping? Or do you run marathons in less than four hours? Either way, we've got you covered! Professional fitness coach Darren Middlesworth will provide the necessary training and inspiration to help you meet your own personal goals and raise funds for PETA's groundbreaking work to help animals. You can team-train in person with us in the Bay Area every Sunday beginning on January 10th or train with friends remotely and join us on Sunday, March 28th, 2010, in beautiful Oakland for the first annual Oakland Half-Marathon/Marathon/5K.

The PETA Pack is a team of compassionate and motivated people just like you who want to protect animals. Just as PETA appreciates the best rescue mutts, the PETA Pack welcomes participants of all shapes and sizes. Some of us are new to running, and others are experienced marathoners, but we all have one thing in common: We want to make PETA a stronger voice for animals everywhere!

By joining the PETA Pack, you'll have access to 12 fun weeks of professional coaching from Coach Darren, our "pack leader." He will help you learn how to run if you've just started and will help you achieve new goals if you're already a runner. Darren's been supporting, inspiring, and nurturing runners for 20 years. With his informative and motivational exercise training, great vegetarian diet tips, and his caring nature, he's the perfect coach for our pack!

You can run here in the Bay Area and join our weekly training sessions every Sunday morning. Or you can train remotely—from L.A. to Norfolk or anywhere in between by mapping your route — and then you can join us for the race on Sunday, March 28, in Oakland. If you can’t make it all the way out to Oakland, our group leaders in DC and Norfolk will lead our remote runners in the National Marathon and Shamrock Marathon, respectively, the week before.

Professional personal fitness coaching can be pricey, but that's not the case when it comes to the PETA Pack. Instead of paying for the training, each member of the PETA Pack will promise to do his or her best to raise a minimum of $1,000 in donations from friends, family members, and colleagues to help PETA stop animal abuse and suffering. Click here for more information about fundraising as a PETA Pack member.

The PETA Pack's top fundraisers will win fabulous prizes!

From all of us here at PETA, thank you for helping us help animals! We couldn't do it without your support. All PETA Pack members will receive a technical running shirt to wear on race day, a goodie bag filled with cruelty-free treats, a PETA water bottle, and, of course, 12 weeks of professional training. They will also take part in a wonderful celebration party (post-race) for participants, supporters, and loved ones!

This year, our 1st, 2nd and 3rd place fundraising winners will get to choose from our top prizes! Our winner will choose first, then our runner-up, and finally our 3rd place winner. The 2010 top prizes are:

  • 3 night stay, including breakfast and a guided Cloud Forest trail tour each morning, at the vegetarian resort Lands in Love in beautiful Costa Rica! (Airfare not included)
  • 4 night stay at a Lake Tahoe vacation home! (Airfare not included, excludes holiday stays)
  • Assorted vegan vitamin and supplement package from Vegetarian Wellness
  • Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Prizes: $50 gift certificate for the PETA Catalog
  • Best Team Spirit: $25 gift certificate for the PETA Catalog
  • Greatest Effort: $25 gift certificate for the PETA Catalog
  • 10 special goodie bags of vegan treats and great coupons to the next top fundraisers

Winners will be chosen based on fundraising totals on March 28, 2010. You do not have to run the actual race to win your prize. "Best Team Spirit" and "Greatest Effort" winners will be chosen by PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk, Coach Darren, and fellow PETA Pack runners.